Sec. 533.0515. REGIONAL ALLOCATION OF MENTAL HEALTH BEDS. (a) In this section, "inpatient mental health facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 571.003.

(b) The commission, with input from local mental health authorities, local behavioral health authorities, stakeholders, and the forensic director appointed under Section 532.013, and after considering any plan developed under Section 533.051, shall divide the state into regions for the purpose of allocating to each region state-funded beds in the state hospitals and other inpatient mental health facilities for patients who are:

(1) voluntarily admitted to a state hospital or other inpatient mental health facility under Subchapter B, Chapter 462, or Chapter 572;

(2) admitted to a state hospital or other inpatient mental health facility for emergency detention under Subchapter C, Chapter 462, or Chapter 573;

(3) ordered by a court to receive at a state hospital or other inpatient mental health facility inpatient chemical dependency treatment under Subchapter D, Chapter 462, or inpatient mental health services under Chapter 574;

(4) committed to a state hospital or other inpatient mental health facility to attain competency to stand trial under Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal Procedure; or

(5) committed to a state hospital or other inpatient mental health facility to receive inpatient mental health services following an acquittal by reason of insanity under Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(c) The department, in conjunction with the commission, shall convene the advisory panel described by Section 533.051(c) at least quarterly in order for the advisory panel to:

(1) develop, make recommendations to the executive commissioner or department, as appropriate, and monitor the implementation of updates to:

(A) a bed day allocation methodology for allocating to each region designated under Subsection (b) a certain number of state-funded beds in state hospitals and other inpatient mental health facilities for the patients described by Subsection (b) based on the identification and evaluation of factors that impact the use of state-funded beds by patients in a region, including clinical acuity, the prevalence of serious mental illness, and the availability of resources in the region; and

(B) a bed day utilization review protocol that includes a peer review process to:

(i) evaluate:

(a) the use of state-funded beds in state hospitals and other inpatient mental health facilities by patients described by Subsection (b);

(b) alternatives to hospitalization for those patients;

(c) the readmission rate for those patients; and

(d) the average length of admission for those patients; and

(ii) conduct a review of the diagnostic and acuity profiles of patients described by Subsection (b) for the purpose of assisting the department, commission, and advisory panel in making informed decisions and using available resources efficiently and effectively; and

(2) receive and review status updates from the department regarding the implementation of the bed day allocation methodology and the bed day utilization review protocol.

(d) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the advisory panel shall submit to the executive commissioner for consideration a proposal for an updated bed day allocation methodology and bed day utilization review protocol, and the executive commissioner shall adopt an updated bed day allocation methodology and bed day utilization review protocol.

(e) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the department, in conjunction with the commission and the advisory panel, shall prepare and submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate finance committee, the house appropriations committee, and the standing committees of the legislature having jurisdiction over mental health and human services a report that includes:

(1) a summary of the activities of the commission, department, and advisory panel to develop or update the bed day allocation methodology and bed day utilization review protocol;

(2) the outcomes of the implementation of the bed day allocation methodology by region, including an explanation of how the actual outcomes aligned with or differed from the expected outcomes;

(3) for planning purposes, for each region, the actual value of a bed day for the two years preceding the date of the report and the projected value of a bed day for the five years following the date of the report, as calculated by the department;

(4) for each region, an evaluation of the factors in Subsection (c)(1)(A), including the availability of resources in the region, that impact the use of state-funded beds in state hospitals and other inpatient mental health facilities by the patients described by Subsection (b);

(5) the outcomes of the implementation of the bed day utilization review protocol and the impact of the use of the protocol on the use of state-funded beds in state hospitals and other inpatient mental health facilities by the patients described by Subsection (b); and

(6) any recommendations of the department, commission, or advisory panel to enhance the effective and efficient allocation of state-funded beds in state hospitals and other inpatient mental health facilities for the patients described by Subsection (b).

Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 207 (S.B. 1507), Sec. 2, eff. May 28, 2015.