(a) In general.  Each patient admitted or certified to a facility pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be the subject of a periodic review of his or her condition and status to be conducted by a review committee composed of at least one psychiatrist and other mental health professionals involved in treating the patient. The committee shall be composed of no fewer than three (3) persons and shall be appointed by the director of the facility or his or her designated agent. The reviews shall minimally involve an evaluation of the quality of care the patient is receiving, including an evaluation of the patient’s treatment plan, and the making of any recommendations for the improvement of the care or for the revision of the treatment plan, including alternative available living arrangements, foster care, community residential facilities, nursing homes, and other convalescent facilities. At every fourth review, one member of the committee shall be a member of the hospital’s utilization review committee appointed by that committee’s chairperson.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-10

  • Director: means the director of the state department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2
  • Facility: means any public or private hospital licensed by the Rhode Island department of health that maintains staff and facilities, including inpatient units, for the care and treatment of persons with psychiatric illness, psychiatric disorders, and/or psychiatric disabilities; and in order to operate pursuant to the Mental Health Act as codified in this chapter, such facility and/or inpatient unit must be approved by the director of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals upon application of such facility and/or inpatient unit, and any of the several community mental health services established pursuant to chapter 8. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Patient: means a person admitted voluntarily, certified or re-certified admitted to a facility according to the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Psychiatrist: means a person licensed by the Rhode Island department of health to practice medicine pursuant to chapter 37 of Title 5 who has, in addition, completed three (3) years of graduate psychiatric training in a program approved by the American Medical Association or American Osteopathic Association. See Rhode Island General Laws 40.1-5-2

(b) Frequency.  The review proceedings shall take place at least once within each ninety-day (90) period during which a person is a patient in the facility.

(c) Results of review.  The results of each review shall be entered in the patient’s medical record, presented orally to the patient within twenty-four (24) hours, and confirmed by written notice to the patient and his or her guardian, or with the patient’s consent, to his or her next of kin, within seventy-two (72) hours. In the event the director of the facility is not a member of the committee, the notice shall be transmitted to him or her as well. Where the committee determines that further care in the facility is required, the notice to the patient shall include an explanation of the patient’s rights to pursue discharge as elsewhere provided in this chapter.

History of Section.
P.L. 1974, ch. 119, § 1; P.L. 1976, ch. 215, § 1.