Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3002J – Designation of a lay caregiver
(a) A hospital shall provide a patient or a patient’s agent at least 1 opportunity to designate at least 1 lay caregiver under this chapter following the patient’s admission into a hospital and before the patient’s discharge to a residence.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3002J
- Aftercare: means assistance provided by a lay caregiver to a patient in a residence after the patient's discharge from a hospital that does not require the lay caregiver to be a health-care provider. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3001J
- Discharge: means a patient's exit or release from a hospital following an inpatient stay. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3001J
- Hospital: means as defined in § 1001 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3001J
- Lay caregiver: includes direct support professionals and shared living providers who are paid staff in a neighborhood group home or shared or community living arrangement, as approved by the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services, and attendant caregivers, as provided for in § 1921(a)(14) and (15) of Title 24. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3001J
- Residence: means a dwelling considered by a patient to be the patient's home. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 3001J
(b) A hospital shall record the patient’s designation of a lay caregiver and the lay caregiver’s contact information in the patient’s electronic health record maintained by the hospital or in the patient’s electronic health record contained in the Delaware Health Information Network.
(c) A hospital shall allow a patient or a patient’s agent to change the individual designated as a lay caregiver by the patient or the patient’s agent in the event that the individual designated as a lay caregiver becomes unavailable, unwilling, or unable to provide aftercare for the patient.
(d) The designation of an individual as a lay caregiver by a patient or a patient’s agent under this chapter does not obligate the individual to accept the role of lay caregiver for the patient.
(e) This chapter may not be construed to require a patient to designate a lay caregiver.
(f) If a patient or a patient’s agent declines to designate a lay caregiver under this section, a hospital shall promptly document the refusal to designate a lay caregiver in the patient’s medical record.
(g) A hospital may not allow the ability of a patient or a patient’s agent to appoint a lay caregiver or the refusal or failure to appoint a lay caregiver by a patient or a patient’s agent to interfere with, delay, or otherwise affect the services provided to the patient by the hospital.