California Code of Regulations › Title 15 - Crime Prevention and Corrections › Division 3 - Adult Institutions, Programs and Parole › Chapter 2 - Rules and Regulations of Health Care Services › Subchapter 2 - Patient's Entitlements and Responsibilities › Article 5 - Health Care Grievances › Section 3999.225 - Definitions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
For the purpose of Subchapter 2, Article 5 only, the following
						definitions apply:
(a) Accepted means that
					 the health care grievance qualified for processing at the level submitted.
(b) Administrative remedy means the non-judicial
					 process provided to address patient health care grievances in which a grievant may
					 allege an issue and seek a remedy and the Health Care Grievance Office and Health
					 Care Correspondence and Appeals Branch have an opportunity to intervene and respond.
					 A headquarters' level health care grievance appeal disposition exhausts
					 administrative remedies.
(c) Amendment
					 means a headquarters' instruction to the institution to revise a previously written
					 institutional level health care grievance response which requires correction or
					 clarification prior to conducting a headquarters' level grievance appeal
					 review.
(d) Appeal means a grievant's
					 submission of a health care grievance to the headquarters' level for review of the
					 institutional level disposition.
(e)
					 Business day means Monday through Friday excluding State holidays.
(f) Chief Executive Officer (health care) means
					 the highest level health care executive assigned to a CDCR institution.
(g) Disposition means the outcome of the health
					 care grievance review at the level submitted.
(h) Expedited health care grievance means a health
					 care grievance determined by clinical staff to require expeditious
					 handling.
(i) Grievant means a patient
					 who submits for review a CDCR 602 HC, Health Care Grievance.
(j) Headquarters' level directive means a written
					 mandate by the headquarters' level reviewing authority to the institutional level
					 reviewing authority requiring the action as identified in the directive, after
					 headquarters' review of a health care grievance appeal.
(k) Health care discipline means medical, dental,
					 or mental health.
(l) Health Care
					 Correspondence and Appeals Branch (HCCAB) means the office responsible for statewide
					 oversight of the grievance program and the headquarters' level health care grievance
					 appeal review.
(m) Health care grievance
					 means a written complaint submitted by a patient using a CDCR 602 HC, pursuant to
					 section 3999.226(a).
(n) Health Care Grievance Office (HCGO) means the
					 office responsible for coordinating the institutional level health care grievance
					 review.
(o) Health care grievance
					 package means the CDCR 602 HC and the CDCR 602 HC A, Health Care Grievance
					 Attachment and all supporting documents. A health care grievance is not a record of
					 care and treatment rendered and shall not be filed in the central file or health
					 record.
(p) Health care grievance
					 process means all steps involving grievant preparation and health care staff
					 receipt, review, disposition, and exhaustion of submitted health care
					 grievances.
(q) Health care staff means
					 any administrative and/or clinical staff involved in the health care grievance
					 process under health care's reviewing authority.
(r) Intervention means available administrative
					 action or redress deemed necessary by health care staff to address an identified
					 health care grievance.
(s) Material
					 adverse effect means harm or injury that is measurable or demonstrable (even if that
					 measurement or demonstration is subjective for the patient) or the reasonable
					 likelihood of such harm or injury due to a health care policy, decision, action,
					 condition, or omission.
(t) Multiple
					 health care grievances means health care grievances received from more than one
					 grievant on an identical issue.
(u)
					 Patient means an inmate who is seeking or receiving health care services.
(v) Rejected means that the submitted health care
					 grievance or appeal of grievance disposition did not qualify for processing for the
					 reasons stated in the rejection.
(w)
					 Response means the written notification provided to the grievant relative to the
					 disposition, rejection, or withdrawal of a health care grievance or health care
					 grievance appeal.
(x) Reviewing
					 authority means health care staff authorized to approve and sign health care
					 grievance responses to ensure procedural due process. The reviewing authority does
					 not conduct a clinical review.
(1) The reviewing
					 authority shall not be an individual who participated in the event or decision being
					 grieved.
(2) Health care grievances and
					 staff complaints submitted at the institutional level are approved and signed by the
					 Chief Executive Officer (health care) or designee. Circumstances may warrant the
					 headquarters' level reviewing authority to assign a designee.
(3) Health care grievances and staff complaints
					 submitted at contracted, community correctional, or out-of-state facilities are
					 approved and signed by an executive level designee. Circumstances may warrant the
					 headquarters' level reviewing authority to assign a designee.
(4) Health care grievance appeals and staff
					 complaints submitted at the headquarters' level are approved and signed by the
					 Deputy Director, Policy and Risk Management Services, or
					 designee.