New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 370 - OVERSIGHT OF LICENSED HEALTHCARE FACILITIES AND COMMUNITY BASED WAIVER PROGRAMS › Part 17 - REQUIREMENTS FOR FREESTANDING BIRTH CENTERS › Section 8.370.17.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
"AABC"
means American association of birth centers.
B.
"Administrator"
means the
				person who is delegated the administrative responsibility for interpreting,
				implementing, and applying policies and procedures at the birth center. The
				administrator is responsible for establishing and maintaining safe and
				effective management, control and operation of the facility and all of the
				services provided at the facility, including fiscal management. The
				administrator must meet the minimum administrator qualifications in these
				regulations.
C.
"Applicant"
means the individual or legal entity that applies for
				a license. If the applicant is a legal entity, then the individual signing the
				license application on behalf of the legal entity must have written legal
				authority from the legal entity to act on its behalf and execute the
				application. The license applicant must be the legal owner of the
				facility.
D.
"Apprentice
				midwife"
means an individual as defined in and licensed under 16.11.3
				NMAC, as amended, and currently in good standing.
E.
"ACNM"
means the American
				college of nurse midwives.
F.
"Basic life support" (BLS)
means training and current
				certification in adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation equivalent to American
				heart association class C basic life support and in emergency treatment of a
				victim of cardiac or respiratory arrest through cardiopulmonary resuscitation
				and emergency cardiac care.
G.
"Birth assistant"
means a staff person over the age of 18 who is
				capable of recognizing complications and who can care for the mother and infant
				by performing normal postpartum and newborn care. At a minimum, a birth
				assistant must be trained and have current certifications in BLS and neonatal
				resuscitation program (NRP) and can only function under the direct supervision
				of a licensed provider immediately available on site.
H.
"Birth center" (BC)
means a
				freestanding birth center licensed by the state for the primary purpose of
				performing low-risk deliveries that is not a hospital, attached to a hospital
				or in a hospital, and where births are planned to occur away from the mother's
				residence following a low-risk pregnancy.
I.
"Birth room" or "birthing
				room"
means a private room of sufficient size to accommodate a client in
				active labor with the equipment and personnel necessary to assist the mother in
				a safe birth and in full compliance with the minimum standards in these
				regulations. Any facility with four or more birthing rooms must also comply
				with the birthing room and center requirements in the current edition of the
				facility guidelines institute, guidelines for design and construction, specific
				requirements for freestanding birth centers.
J.
"CABC
" means the commission
				for the accreditation of birth centers.
K.
"Certified nurse midwife"
means a licensed individual educated in the two disciplines of nursing and
				midwifery as defined and licensed under 16.11.2 NMAC, as amended, and currently
				in good standing.
L.
"Certified nurse practitioner"
means a registered nurse as defined
				and licensed under the Nursing Practice Act, Section 613-23.2 NMSA 1978, as
				amended, and related regulations and is currently in good standing.
M.
"CLIA"
means Clinical
				laboratory improvement amendments of 1988 as amended.
N.
"Client"
means any person who
				receives care, including a mother, infant or newborn, at a freestanding birth
				center.
O.
"Compliance"
means the facility's adherence to these regulations,
				as well as any and all other applicable state and federal statutes and
				regulations. Compliance violations may result in sanctions, civil monetary
				penalties and revocation or suspension of the facility license.
P.
"Deficiency"
means a
				violation of or failure to comply with any provision(s) of these
				regulations.
Q.
"Employee"
means any person who works at the facility and is a
				direct hire of the owner or management company, if applicable.
R.
"External quality committee"
means the members of the internal quality committee and an external peer
				reviewer or a clinical consultant and any other facility healthcare partners,
				as available.
S.
"Facility"
means the physical premises, building(s) and equipment
				where the freestanding birth center services are provided, whether owned or
				leased and which is licensed pursuant to these regulations.
T.
"Incident"
means any known,
				alleged or suspected event of abuse, neglect, exploitation, injuries of unknown
				origin or other reportable incidents.
U.
"Incident management system"
means the written policies and procedures adopted or developed by the licensed
				health facility for reporting abuse, neglect, exploitation, injuries of unknown
				origin or other reportable incidents.
V.
"Incident report form"
means
				the reporting format issued by the authority for the reporting of incidents or
				complaints.
W.
"Internal
				quality committee"
means and includes the administrator and clinical
				director at a minimum. If the administrator and clinical director are the same
				person, another staff person with clinical experience must serve on the
				internal quality committee. Other staff at the facility may also serve on this
				committee as deemed appropriate.
X.
"License"
means the document issued by the licensing authority
				pursuant to these regulations granting the legal right to operate a birth
				center for a specified period of time, at the physical premises, not to exceed
				one year.
Y.
"Licensee"
means the person(s) or legal entity that operates the
				physical premises and facility and in whose name the facility license has been
				issued and who is legally responsible for compliance with these
				regulations.
Z.
"Licensed
				midwife"
means a licensed individual as defined and licensed under
				16.11.3 NMAC, as amended, currently in good standing.
AA.
"Licensed practical nurse"
means a licensed individual as defined and licensed under the Nursing Practice
				Act, Section 61-3-19 NMSA 1978, as amended, currently in good
				standing.
BB.
"Licensing
				authority"
means the New Mexico health care authority.
CC.
"Low risk pregnancy"
means a
				pregnancy that is determined by documented medical history, risk assessment,
				and prenatal care that reasonably predicts an outcome of a normal and
				uncomplicated labor and birth.
DD.
"Management company"
means the legal entity that manages the
				facility, if different from the legal owner of the facility.
EE.
"Midwife"
means a licensed
				individual authorized to practice midwifery in New Mexico as defined and
				licensed under 16.11.2 NMAC, as amended, or 16.11.3 NMAC, as amended, currently
				in good standing.
FF.
"NFPA"
means the national fire protection association which sets
				codes and standards for building fire safety.
GG.
"NMSA"
means the New Mexico
				Statutes Annotated 1978 compilation and all subsequent amendments, revisions
				and compilations.
HH.
"Neonatal resuscitation program" (NRP)
means training and current
				certification in both the NRP module on medications and the module on
				intubation using an endotracheal tube (ET) or laryngeal mask airway (LMA) or
				both, endorsed by American academy of pediatrics or the American heart
				association.
II.
"Quality
				assurance"
means the licensed health care facility's on-going
				comprehensive self-assessment of compliance with these regulations and any and
				all other applicable statutes and regulations including, but not limited to,,
				the facility's own policies and procedures and incident investigations,
				documentation, reporting and reviewing of all alleged incidents of abuse,
				neglect, exploitation, injuries of unknown origin or other reportable incidents
				for study and improvement of the facility's organizational, administrative and
				preventative practices in employee training and reporting.
JJ.
"Quality improvement system"
means a systematic approach to the continuous study and improvement of the
				efficacy of organizational, administrative and clinical practices to meet the
				needs of persons served, address any changing regulatory requirements and
				achieve the facility's mission, values and goals.
KK.
"Physician"
means a licensed
				individual, currently in good standing, authorized to practice medicine as
				defined and licensed under the New Mexico Medical Practice Act, Sections 61-6-1
				to 616-34 NMSA 1978, as amended, and related regulations or osteopathic
				medicine as defined and licensed under Sections 61-10-1 to 61-10-22 NMSA 1978,
				as amended, and related regulations.
LL.
"Physician's assistant"
means an individual, currently in good standing, who is licensed and authorized
				to provide services to patients under the supervision and direction of a
				licensed physician under the Physician Assistant Act, Sections 61-6-7 to 616-10
				NMSA 1978, as amended and related regulations, or is authorized and licensed to
				provide services to patients under the supervision and direction of a licensed
				osteopathic physician under the Osteopathic Physicians' Assistants Act,
				Sections 61-10A-1 to 61-10-7 NMSA 1978 as amended, and related
				regulations.
MM.
"Plan of
				correction" (POC)
means the plan submitted by the licensee or its
				representative(s) addressing how and when deficiencies identified through a
				survey or investigation will be corrected. A plan of correction is a public
				record once it has been approved by the regulatory authority and is admissible
				for all purposes in any adjudicatory hearing and all subsequent appeals
				relating to a facility license, including to prove licensee compliance
				violations or failures.
NN.
"Policy"
means a written statement that guides and determines
				present and future facility decisions and actions.
OO.
"Premises"
means all of the
				facility including buildings, grounds and equipment.
PP.
"Procedure"
means the
				action(s) that must be taken in order to implement a written policy.
QQ.
"Registered nurse"
means an
				individual, currently in good standing, who is licensed and authorized to
				provide nursing services under the Nursing Practice Act, Sections 61-3-1 to
				61-3-30 NMSA 1978, as amended, and related regulations.
RR.
"Scope of practice"
means
				the procedures, actions, and processes that a healthcare practitioner is
				permitted to undertake under the terms of their professional license. The scope
				of practice is limited to that which the applicable law allows for specific
				education, training, experience and demonstrated competency.
SS.
"Staff"
means any person who
				works at the facility, and includes employees, contracted persons, independent
				contractors and volunteers who perform work or provide goods and services at
				the facility.
TT.
"U/L
				approved"
means approved for safety by the national underwriters
				laboratory.
UU.
"Variance"
means a written decision, made at the licensing
				authority's sole discretion, allowing a licensee and facility to deviate from a
				portion(s) or provision of these regulations for a specified time period not
				exceeding a year, providing the variance does not jeopardize the health, safety
				or welfare of the facility's clients, patients and staff and is not in
				violation of other applicable state and federal statutes and
				regulations.
VV.
"Violation"
means any and all actions or procedures by the
				facility or licensee that are not in compliance with these regulations and any
				and all other applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.
WW.
"Waive" or "waiver"
means a
				written decision, made at the licensing authority's sole discretion, to allow a
				birth center to refrain from complying with a portion(s) or provision of these
				regulations for a limited and specified time period not exceeding a year,
				providing the waiver does not jeopardize the health, safety or welfare of the
				facility's clients, patients and staff and is not in violation of other
				applicable state and federal statutes and regulations.