TITLE 23
Health and Safety
CHAPTER 23-89
The Rhode Island Palliative Care and Quality of Life Act
SECTION 23-89-3
§ 23-89-3 Access to palliative care.
(a) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:
(1) "Appropriate" means consistent with applicable legal,
health and professional standards, the patient's clinical and other
circumstances, and the patient's reasonably known wishes and beliefs.
(2) "Medical care" means services provided, requested, or
supervised by a physician or advanced practice nurse.
(3) "Palliative care" means patient and family centered
medical care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and
treating suffering caused by serious illness. Palliative care throughout the
continuum of illness involves addressing physical, emotional, social, and
spiritual needs and facilitating patient autonomy, access to information, and
choice. Palliative care includes, but is not limited to, discussions of the
patient's goals for treatment; discussion of treatment options appropriate to
the patient, including, where appropriate, hospice care; and comprehensive pain
and symptom management.
(4) "Serious illness" means any medical illness or physical
injury or condition that substantially impacts quality of life for more than a
short period of time. Serious illness includes, but is not limited to, cancer;
heart, renal or liver failure; lung disease; and Alzheimer's disease and
related dementias.
(b) On or before January 1, 2015, all healthcare
organizations which required a license to operate shall:
(1) Consult with the organization's physicians to educate
them on how to provide information about appropriate palliative care services
for those patients or residents with serious illnesses, who, in their
professional medical opinion, would benefit from them.
(c) The department shall carry out this section with the
consultation of the palliative care and quality of life interdisciplinary
advisory council.
(d) In carrying out this section, the department shall take
into account factors that may impact the development of such a system and its
ability to facilitate access to palliative care, including the size of the
healthcare organization; access and proximity to palliative care services,
including the availability of hospice and palliative care board-certified
practitioners and related workforce staff; and geographic factors.
History of Section.
(P.L. 2013, ch. 332, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 421, § 1.)
