ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
ambulance services; response
time; compliance
Requires the Director of the
Department of Health Services (DHS) to consider hospital diversions and delays
when evaluating ambulance response times.
Pursuant to statute, DHS regulates ambulance service providers through the issuance of certificates of necessity that prescribe a provider’s service area, level of service, type of service and hours of operation. Statute also authorizes DHS to adopt rules to regulate the operation of ambulances and ambulance services in this State.
Specifically, DHS may, by rule, determine ambulance rates and operating and response times. Response times are reviewed when certificates of necessity are renewed or when a complaint is filed against an ambulance service provider. A.A.C. R9-25-906 prescribes several factors the Director may consider when establishing and reviewing response times, such as differences in locality and requirements of a 9-1-1 or similar dispatch system. However, these factors do not account for hospital emergency department diversions or delays.
As hospital emergency
departments become increasingly full, the response time records of ambulance
service providers may be negatively affected by delays while ambulances are
either waiting to unload their patients or are directed to another hospital
that is not on diversion. S.B. 1151
requires the Director of DHS to take into account the effects of hospital
diversions and delays when analyzing ambulance compliance with response times.
There is no cost relating to
the provisions of this bill.
Provisions
1. Requires the Director of DHS to consider hospital diversions and delays when evaluating ambulance response time compliance.
2. Makes clarifying and technical changes.
3. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 1, 2002