SECTION 1. Title 5 of the General Laws entitled "Businesses and Professions" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 37.6
PAIN ASSESSMENT ACT

5-37.6-1. Short title. -- This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Pain Assessment Act."

5-37.6-2. Findings. -- The general assembly finds and declares that:

(1) pain affects quality of life, job performance and security;

(2) nearly thirty percent (30%) of nursing home residents with daily pain were receiving no pain medication of any form;

(3) pain untreated or under-treated adversely impacts the quality of life for patients;

(4) up to ninety-five percent (95%) of terminally ill patients' pain can be relieved with adequate pain management; and

(5) too many Rhode Islanders are suffering and dying in needless pain.

5-37.6-3. Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Assessment of pain" means the act of assessing an unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder;

(2) "Director" means the director of the department of health;

(3) "Health care facilities" shall be defined in the same manner as in section 23-17-2(5);

(4) "Health care provider" shall mean any person licensed by this state to provide or lawfully providing health care services, including, but not limited to, a physician, dentist, optometrist, nurse, podiatrist, physical therapist, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant.

(5) "Person" means any individual, trust or estate, partnership, limited liability corporation, corporation (including associations, joint stock companies, and insurance companies), state, or political subdivision or instrumentality of a state;

(6) "Regular basis" means a procedure done on a customary, usual, normal, orderly, even, or symmetrical schedule.

5-37.6-4. Pain assessment. -- (a) Health care facilities and health care providers shall conduct an assessment of pain experienced by a patient on a regular basis;

(b) the assessment of pain shall be noted in the patient's chart in a manner consistent with vital signs.

5-37.6-5. Regulations. -- (a) Promulgation by department. The director of the department shall promulgate regulations relating to the assessment of pain requirements of this chapter.

(b) Educational materials. The director shall make available educational and informational materials concerning the assessment of pain to health care facilities and health care providers.

5-37.6-6. Enforcement. -- The director of the department of health shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

5-37.6-7. Penalty. -- (a) Every person who shall willfully and continually violate the provisions of this section will be subject to a fine up to one hundred dollars ($100) for a first violation and any other remedy provided for in the Rhode Island law.

(b) Every person who shall continuously violate this section will be subject to a fine up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each subsequent violation in addition to any other remedy provided for in the Rhode Island law.

5-37.6-8. Severability. -- If any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation made under this chapter, or the application of any provision of this chapter to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the chapter, rule or regulation and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. The invalidity of any section or sections or parts of any section of this chapter shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this chapter and to this end the provisions of the chapter are declared to be severable.

SECTION 2. Section 23-17-19.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17 entitled "Licensing of Health Care Facilities" is hereby amended to read as follows:

23-17-19.1. Rights of patients. -- Every health care facility licensed under this chapter shall observe the following standards and any other standards that may be prescribed in rules and regulations promulgated by the licensing agency with respect to each patient who utilizes the facility:

(1) The patient shall be afforded considerate and respectful care.

(2) Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with the name of the physician responsible for coordinating his or her care.

(3) Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with the name of the physician or other person responsible for conducting any specific test or other medical procedure performed by the health care facility in connection with the patient's treatment.

(4) The patient shall have the right to refuse any treatment by the health care facility to the extent permitted by law.

(5) The patient's right to privacy shall be respected to the extent consistent with providing adequate medical care to the patient and with the efficient administration of the health care facility. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude discreet discussion of a patient's case or examination of appropriate medical personnel.

(6) The patient's right to privacy and confidentiality shall extend to all records pertaining to the patient's treatment except as otherwise provided by law.

(7) The health care facility shall respond in a reasonable manner to the request of a patient's physician, certified nurse practitioner and/or a physician's assistant for medical services to the patient. The health care facility shall also respond in a reasonable manner to the patient's request for other services customarily rendered by the health care facility to the extent the services do not require the approval of the patient's physician, certified nurse practitioner and/or a physician's assistant or are not inconsistent with the patient's treatment.

(8) Before transferring a patient to another facility, the health care facility must first inform the patient of the need for and alternatives to a transfer.

(9) Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with the identities of all other health care and educational institutions that the health care facility has authorized to participate in the patient's treatment and the nature of the relationship between the institutions and the health care facility.

(10) If the health care facility proposes to use the patient in any human experimentation project, it shall first thoroughly inform the patient of the proposal and offer the patient the right to refuse to participate in the project.

(11) Upon request, the patient shall be allowed to examine and shall be given an explanation of the bill rendered by the health care facility irrespective of the source of payment of the bill.

(12) Upon request, the patient shall be permitted to examine any pertinent health care facility rules and regulations that specifically govern the patient's treatment.

(13) The patient shall be offered treatment without discrimination as to race, color, religion, national origin, or source of payment.

(14) Patients shall be provided with a summarized medical bill within thirty (30) days of discharge from a health care facility. Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with an itemized copy of his or her bill. When patients are residents of state-operated institutions and facilities, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply.

(15) Upon request, the patient shall be allowed the use of a personal television set provided that the television complies with underwriters' laboratory standards and O.S.H.A. standards, and so long as the television set is classified as a portable television.

(16) No charge shall be made for furnishing a health record or part of a health record to a patient, his or her attorney or authorized representative if the record or part of the record is necessary for the purpose of supporting an appeal under any provision of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. section 301 et seq., and the request is accompanied by documentation of the appeal or a claim under the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act, chapters 29 -- 38 of title 28. A provider shall furnish a health record requested pursuant to this section within thirty (30) days of the request. Further, for patients of school based health centers, the director is authorized to specify by regulation an alternative list of age appropriate rights commensurate with this section.

(17) The patient shall have the right to have his or her pain assessed on a regular basis.

SECTION 3. Chapter 23-17.5 of the General Laws entitled "Rights of Nursing Home Patients" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

23-17.5-28. Pain assessment. -- A patient shall have the right to have his or her pain assessed on a regular basis.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.