IDPH Adopts Omnibus Rulemaking

The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) has adopted amendments to the Hospital Licensing Requirements (77 Ill. Adm. Code 250 et seq.), (May 17 Illinois Register, pages 7321 to 7396). The adopted amendments, which are now effective, codify recent statutory changes as well as make updates to sections related to dietetic services. This memo serves as a summary of the adopted changes.

Definitions (250.100) – Under definitions within the regulations, IDPH has added a definition of “Dietetic Service Director” and “Dietician,” with minimum standards of meeting those definitions, including certifications and licensure under the Dietitian Nutritionist Practice Act.

Orders for Medications and Treatments (250.330) – IDPH is codifying statutory changes made in P.A. 103-0057, requiring hospitals to identify patients age 50 or older (previously 65) for influenza immunization and age 65 or older for pneumococcal immunization.

Classification of Emergency Services (250.710) – Pursuant to P.A. 103-0213, IDPH is codifying within the emergency services section that hospitals shall not delay provisions of a required appropriate medical screening examination or further medication examination or treatment in order to inquire about the ability of the patient to pay or their insurance status.

General Requirements (250.720) – IDPH has codified training requirements for hospitals pursuant to P.A. 103-0169, which requires hospitals providing obstetric services to include in their written policies and education to hospital staff protocols for addressing airway emergencies experienced during childbirth. Further, the adopted amendment also removes the requirement for yearly educational modules, which was also included in the Act. Mirrored changes to the regulations were also made in Sect. 250.1830 (General Requirements for All Obstetric Departments).

Latex Glove Ban Act – IDPH has updated several sections of the regulations to codify the Latex Glove Ban Act, P.A. 102-1095. Pursuant to that Act, IDPH has updated the regulations in:

• Section 250.720 (General Requirements)

• Section 250.1030 (Policies and Procedures)

• Section 250.1230 (Policies and Procedures)

• Section 250.1610 (Dietary Department Administration)

Nurse Staffing by Patient Acuity (250.1130) – Pursuant to P.A. 103-0211, IDPH has updated this Section requiring the nursing care committee to notify the hospital’s nursing staff of their rights pursuant to Section 10.10 of the Hospital Licensing Act. The regulations set forth the notification requirements consistent with the statutory changes.

General Requirements for All Obstetric Departments (250.1830) – In addition to the education requirements discussed above, IDPH is codifying P.A. 103-0160 requiring hospitals to provide mothers information about how they can donate human milk.

In addition to these changes, the Department adopted various updates to the hospital licensing regulations to clean up language and update citations.

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