CS/CS/HB 1269 Summary

• Amends Florida Statutes Section 408.0361 to expand rulemaking criteria for the Agency for Health Care Administration regarding licensure of hospitals performing percutaneous cardiac intervention procedures.

• Allows hospitals located more than 100 road miles from the nearest Level II adult cardiovascular services program to waive the 60-minute transfer time protocol if they have a formalized transfer agreement with a Level II hospital, with transport protocols considering patient clinical characteristics, road and weather conditions, and ambulance service viability.

• Requires nursing and technical staff at Level I programs to have demonstrated experience handling acutely ill patients in dedicated cardiac interventional laboratories or surgical centers.

• Establishes four specific criteria for staff experience from facilities without approved adult open-heart-surgery programs: minimum 500 annual percutaneous cardiac intervention procedures, 95 percent or greater success rate, less than 5 percent complication rate, and performance of diverse cardiac procedures including balloon angioplasty, stenting, rotational atherectomy, cutting balloon atheroma remodeling, and left ventricular support procedures.

• Effective date: July 1, 2016.