Public Act 099-0222
 
SB1298 EnrolledLRB099 09289 RPS 29493 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Caregiver Advise, Record, and Enable Act.
 
    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "After care" means clinical assistance to a patient
provided by a caregiver in the patient's residence following
the patient's discharge from an inpatient hospital stay that is
related to the patient's condition at the time of discharge, as
determined appropriate by the discharging physician or other
health care professional. Clinical assistance may include
activities of daily living or medication management.
    "Caregiver" means any individual designated by a patient to
provide after care to a patient. A designated caregiver may
include, but is not limited to, a relative, spouse, partner,
friend, or neighbor.
    "Discharge" means a patient's release from a hospital to
the patient's residence following an inpatient admission.
    "Hospital" means a hospital that provides general acute
care that is either licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act
or operated under the University of Illinois Hospital Act.
    "Legal representative" means a personal representative
having designated legal status, including an agent designated
through a power of attorney.
    "Patient" means an individual admitted to a hospital as an
inpatient. "Patient" does not include a pediatric patient or a
patient who is not capable of designating a caregiver due to a
health care condition or other circumstances, as determined by
the health care provider.
    "Residence" means a dwelling that the patient considers to
be the patient's home. "Residence" does not include a
rehabilitation facility, hospital, nursing home, assisted
living establishment, group home licensed by the Department of
Public Health or the Department of Human Services, or a
State-operated facility.
 
    Section 10. Opportunity to designate a caregiver.
    (a) A hospital shall provide each patient or, if
applicable, the patient's legal representative with an
opportunity to designate a caregiver following the patient's
admission into the hospital as an inpatient and prior to the
patient's discharge to the patient's residence or transfer to
another facility.
    (b) In the event that a patient is unconscious or otherwise
incapacitated, the hospital shall provide the patient or the
patient's legal representative with an opportunity to
designate a caregiver within a timeframe deemed appropriate by
the attending physician or other licensed health care provider.
    (c) If a patient or legal representative declines to
designate a caregiver pursuant to this Act, the hospital shall
document this declination in the patient's medical record and
has no further responsibilities under this Act.
    (d) If a patient or the patient's legal representative
designates an individual as a caregiver under this Act, the
hospital shall record the patient's designation of caregiver,
the relationship of the designated caregiver to the patient,
and the name, telephone number, and address of the patient's
designated caregiver in the patient's medical record.
    (e) A patient may elect to change his or her designated
caregiver at any time, and the hospital must record this change
in the patient's medical record and thereafter treat the newly
named person as the designated caregiver.
    (f) A designation of a caregiver by a patient or the
patient's legal representative does not obligate any
individual to provide any after care for the patient.
    (g) This Section shall not be construed to require a
patient or a patient's legal representative to designate an
individual as a caregiver under this Act.
 
    Section 15. Notice to designated caregiver. A hospital
shall notify a patient's designated caregiver of the patient's
discharge or transfer to another hospital or facility licensed
by the Department of Public Health as soon as possible prior to
the patient's actual discharge or transfer and, in any event,
upon issuance of a discharge order by the patient's attending
physician, unless the patient indicates he or she does not wish
the designated caregiver to be so notified. In the event the
hospital is unable to contact the designated caregiver, the
lack of contact shall not interfere with, delay, or otherwise
affect the medical care provided to the patient or an
appropriate discharge or transfer of the patient.
 
    Section 20. Instruction to designated caregiver.
    (a) As soon as possible prior to a patient's discharge from
a hospital to the patient's residence, the hospital shall
consult with the designated caregiver and issue a discharge
plan that describes a patient's after care needs, if any, at
the patient's residence. The consultation and issuance of a
discharge plan shall occur on a schedule that takes into
consideration the severity of the patient's condition and the
urgency of the need for caregiver services. In the event the
hospital is unable to contact the designated caregiver, the
lack of contact shall not interfere with, delay, or otherwise
affect the medical care provided to the patient or an
appropriate discharge of the patient. At a minimum, the
discharge plan shall include:
        (1) A description of the after care deemed appropriate
    by the discharging physician or other health care
    professional.
        (2) Contact information for any health care, clinical
    community resources, and long-term services and supports
    that may be helpful in carrying out the patient's discharge
    plan, and contact information for an individual designated
    by the hospital who can respond to questions about the
    discharge plan.
    (b) The hospital issuing the discharge plan must make an
effort to provide or arrange for the designated caregiver to
receive instructions in after care described in the discharge
plan. Training and instructions for caregivers may be conducted
in person or through video technology. Any training or
instructions to a caregiver shall be provided in non-technical
language, to the extent possible. At a minimum, this
instruction shall include:
        (1) A live or recorded demonstration of the tasks
    performed by an individual designated by the hospital who
    is authorized to perform the after care and is able to
    perform the demonstration in a culturally competent
    manner, in accordance with the hospital's requirements to
    provide language access services under State and federal
    law and in accordance with the hospital's procedures for
    providing education to patients and family caregivers.
        (2) An opportunity for the caregiver to ask questions
    about the after care.
        (3) Answers provided in a culturally competent manner
    and in accordance with State and federal law.
    (c) In the event the designated caregiver cannot be
reached, is not available, or is not willing to receive the
instruction, the lack of contact or instruction shall not
interfere with, delay, or otherwise affect an appropriate
discharge of the patient.
 
    Section 25. Non-interference with health care directives.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with the
rights of an agent operating under a valid health care
directive or valid power of attorney.
 
    Section 30. No private right of action. Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to create a private right of action against
a hospital, a hospital affiliate, a hospital employee, or a
consultant or contractor with whom a hospital has a contractual
relationship solely for providing instruction to a designated
caregiver, as described in Section 20 of this Act.
    A hospital, a hospital affiliate, a hospital employee, or a
consultant or contractor with whom a hospital has a contractual
relationship shall not be held liable, except for willful or
wanton misconduct, for services rendered or not rendered by the
caregiver to the patient.
    Nothing in this Act shall delay the discharge of a patient
or the transfer of a patient from a hospital to another
facility.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect 180 days
after becoming law.