HB 6593 Summary

• Removes "nursing home" from the definition of "residential care home" in state statute, establishing residential care homes as distinct from nursing homes effective October 1, 2011.

• Requires residential care homes that admit residents needing medication assistance to employ a registered nurse on-site for at least five hours per month to supervise unlicensed personnel administering medications.

• Permits unlicensed assistive personnel in residential care homes to obtain blood pressures and temperatures, document weight, and assist residents with glucose monitoring using digital medical instruments.

• Establishes a medical model pilot program in up to ten residential care homes statewide, effective July 1, 2011, allowing licensed registered nurses to provide up to twenty hours of weekly health care services to residents at risk of nursing home placement, with annual per-recipient costs not to exceed nursing home care costs.

• Requires the Commissioner of Public Health to report on the pilot program to relevant legislative committees by January 1, 2014.