Texas Administrative Code
Title 26 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Part 1 - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION
Chapter 510 - PRIVATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS AND CRISIS STABILIZATION UNITS
Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 510.2 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 26 TX Admin Code § 510.2

Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Action plan--A written document that includes specific measures to correct identified problems or areas of concern; identifies strategies for implementing system improvements; and includes outcome measures to indicate the effectiveness of system improvements in reducing, controlling, or eliminating identified problem areas.

(2) Adverse event--An event that results in unintended harm to the patient by an act of commission or omission rather than by the underlying disease or condition of the patient.

(3) Applicant--A person who seeks a private psychiatric hospital license or crisis stabilization unit license from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and who is legally responsible for the operation of the facility.

(4) Community center--A center established under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 534, Subchapter A.

(5) Contaminated linen--Linen soiled with blood or other potentially infectious materials or linen containing sharps. Other potentially infectious materials means:

(A) human body fluids such as semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental procedures, body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood, and all body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids;

(B) any unfixed tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead); and

(C) Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-containing cell or tissue cultures, organ cultures, and HIV or Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) containing culture medium or other solutions; and blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or HBV.

(6) Crisis stabilization unit (CSU)--A mental health facility operated by a community center or other entity designated by the local mental health authority in accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code § 534.054, that provides treatment to individuals who are the subject of a protective custody order issued in accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code § 574.022.

(7) Dentist--A person licensed to practice dentistry by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. This includes a doctor of dental surgery or a doctor of dental medicine.

(8) Dietitian--A person who is currently licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation as a licensed dietitian or provisional licensed dietitian or who is a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association.

(9) Emergency medical condition--A medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain, psychiatric disturbances or symptoms of substance use disorder) such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in one or more of the following:

(A) placing the health of the individual (or with respect to a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child) in serious jeopardy;

(B) serious impairment to bodily functions;

(C) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part; or

(D) with respect to a pregnant woman who is having contractions:
(i) that there is inadequate time to effect a safe transfer to another hospital before delivery; or

(ii) that transfer may pose a threat to the health or safety of the woman or the unborn child.

(10) Facility--A private psychiatric hospital or a crisis stabilization unit.

(11) Facility administration--Administrative body of a facility headed by an individual who has the authority to represent the facility and who is responsible for the operation of the facility according to the policies and procedures of the facility governing body.

(12) Fast-track project --A construction project for which it is necessary to begin initial phases of construction before later phases of the construction documents are fully completed in order to establish other design conditions or because of time constraints.

(13) Governing body--The governing authority of a facility responsible for the facility's organization, management, control, and operation, including appointment of the medical staff. This term includes the owner or partners for facilities owned or operated by an individual or partners.

(14) Governmental unit--A political subdivision of the state, including a hospital district, county, or municipality, and any department, division, board, or other agency of a political subdivision.

(15) HHSC--The Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

(16) Hospital--A private psychiatric hospital.

(17) Inpatient services--Services provided to a patient admitted to a hospital for an intended length of stay of 24 hours or more.

(18) Licensed vocational nurse--An individual who is currently licensed as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) by the Texas Board of Nursing in accordance with Texas Occupations Code Chapter 301.

(19) Licensee--A person or governmental unit who has been granted a private psychiatric hospital license or crisis stabilization unit license.

(20) Medical staff--Licensed physicians and other licensed practitioners permitted by law and by the facility to provide medical care independently in the facility.

(21) Mental health services--All services concerned with research, prevention, and detection of mental disorders and disabilities and all services necessary to treat, care for, supervise, and rehabilitate persons who have a mental illness.

(22) Mental illness--An illness, disease, or condition, other than epilepsy, dementia, substance use disorder, or intellectual disability that:

(A) substantially impairs a person's thought, perception of reality, emotional process, or judgment; or

(B) grossly impairs behavior as demonstrated by recent disturbed behavior.

(23) Minor--A person under 18 years of age who is not and has not been married or who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes.

(24) Mobile unit--Any pre-manufactured structure, trailer, or self-propelled unit equipped with a chassis on wheels and intended to provide shared medical services to the community on a temporary basis. Some of these units are equipped with expanding walls and designed to be moved on a daily basis.

(25) Outpatient services--Services provided to patients whose medical needs can be met in less than 24 hours and are provided within the facility.

(26) Owner--One of the following persons who will hold or does hold a license issued under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 577, in the person's name or the person's assumed name:

(A) a corporation;

(B) a governmental unit;

(C) a limited liability company;

(D) an individual;

(E) a partnership if a partnership name is stated in a written partnership agreement or an assumed name certificate;

(F) all partners in a partnership if a partnership name is not stated in a written partnership agreement or an assumed name certificate; or

(G) all co-owners under any other business arrangement.

(27) Patient--An individual who is receiving mental health services under this chapter.

(28) Person--An individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, joint stock company, joint venture, or local authority, and includes a receiver, trustee, assignee, or other similar representative of those entities.

(29) Pharmacist--A person who is licensed to practice pharmacy by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy in accordance with Texas Occupations Code Chapter 558.

(30) Physician--An individual who is:

(A) licensed as a physician by the Texas Medical Board in accordance with Texas Occupations Code Chapter 155; or

(B) authorized to perform medical acts under an institutional permit at a Texas postgraduate training program approved by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, the American Osteopathic Association, or the Texas Medical Board.

(31) Plan of correction--A documented and directed response to any compliance issue identified in a report provided to the facility by HHSC staff after a facility inspection or investigation, which is required to state how and when any compliance issues identified in the report will be corrected.

(32) Podiatrist--A podiatrist licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

(33) Political subdivision--A county, municipality, or hospital district in this state but does not include a department, board, or agency of the state that has statewide authority and responsibility.

(34) Practitioner--A health care professional licensed in the state of Texas, other than a physician.

(35) Premises--A premises is:

(A) a single building where inpatients receive hospital services; or

(B) multiple buildings where inpatients receive hospital services, provided that the following criteria are met:
(i) all inpatient buildings and inpatient services are subject to the control and direction of the governing body of the hospital;

(ii) all inpatient buildings are within a 30-mile radius of the main address of the licensee;

(iii) there is integration of the organized medical staff of the hospital;

(iv) there is a single chief executive officer who reports directly to the governing body and through whom all administrative authority flows and who exercises control and surveillance over all administrative activities of the hospital;

(v) there is a single chief medical officer who reports directly to the governing body and who is responsible for all medical staff activities of the hospital; and

(vi) each building that is geographically separate from other buildings contains at least one nursing unit for inpatients, unless providing only diagnostic or laboratory services, or a combination thereof, in the building for hospital inpatients.

(36) Private psychiatric hospital--A hospital that provides inpatient mental health services to individuals with a mental illness or with a substance use disorder except that, at all times, a majority of the individuals admitted are individuals with a mental illness. Such services include psychiatric assessment and diagnostic services, physician services, professional nursing services, and monitoring for patient safety provided in a restricted environment.

(37) Registered nurse--An individual who is licensed as a registered nurse by the Texas Board of Nursing in accordance with Texas Occupations Code Chapter 301.

(38) Relocatable unit--Any structure, not on wheels, built to be relocated at any time and provide medical services. These structures vary in size.

(39) Stabilize--With respect to an emergency medical condition, to provide such medical treatment of the condition necessary to assure, within reasonable medical probability, that no material deterioration of the condition is likely to result from or occur during the transfer of the individual from a facility, or that the woman has delivered the child and the placenta.

(40) Transfer--The movement (including the discharge) of an individual outside a facility at the direction of any person employed by (or affiliated or associated, directly or indirectly, with) the facility, but does not include such a movement of an individual who has been declared dead or leaves the facility without the permission of any such person.

(41) Transportable unit--Any pre-manufactured structure or trailer, equipped with a chassis on wheels, intended to provide shared medical services to the community on an extended temporary basis. These units are designed to be moved periodically, depending on need.

(42) Universal precautions--Procedures for disinfecting and sterilizing reusable medical devices and appropriate use of infection control, including hand washing, use of protective barriers, and use and disposal of needles and other sharp instruments as those procedures are defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This term includes standard precautions as defined by CDC which are designed to reduce the risk of transmission of blood borne and other pathogens in facilities.

(43) Violation--Failure to comply with a licensing statute, rule or standard, special license provision, or order issued by HHSC adopted or enforced under the licensing statute. Each day a violation continues or occurs is a separate violation for purposes of imposing an administrative penalty.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Texas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.