2018 Tennessee Code
Title 68 - Health, Safety and Environmental Protection
Health
Chapter 11 - Health Facilities and Resources
Part 2 - Regulation of Health and Related Facilities
§ 68-11-271. Registry check.
(a) Prior to employing or contracting with any person providing direct care to a resident or patient, for whom a background check has not been completed, a health care facility licensed under this title shall initiate and perform a "registry check" which for the purposes of this section is defined as:
(1) A state-by-state look in any state in which the person has lived in the previous seven (7) years of the national sex offender public registry web site coordinated by the United States department of justice; and
(2) Any adult abuse registry maintained for any state in which the person has lived during the previous seven (7) years; and
(3) The department of health's elder abuse registry established pursuant to part 10 of this chapter.
(b) A health care facility may not employ or contract with any person providing direct care to a resident or patient if that individual is listed on any of the registries listed in subdivisions (a)(1)-(3).
(c) If a health care facility contracts with a company, organization, or agency that provides or arranges for the provision of direct care to a resident or patient, the facility satisfies the requirements of subsection (a) by:
(1) Receiving and retaining written documentation that an individual supplied by that company, organization, or agency is not listed on any of those registries, or;
(2) Relying on a written contractual representation that such company, organization, or agency conducts the name searches required by subdivisions (a)(1)-(3), and any individual supplied by that company, organization, or agency is not listed on any of those registries; or
(3) Satisfying both subdivisions (c)(1) and (2).
(d) This section is not intended to apply to contracted, external staff who provide such services as cleaning services, maintenance of office or medical equipment or other services where direct patient contact is not intended.
(e) A health care facility that complies with the requirements to perform a "registry check" under subsection (a), subsection (c), or both, shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability solely based upon the information provided through a registry check under this section. This immunity shall extend to a claim related to the facility's refusal to employ or contract with a person based on information obtained from a registry check.
(f) The department of health shall post no later than October 1, 2010 in a conspicuous location on its web site as well as the web site of the board for licensing health care facilities a link to all databases listed in subdivisions (a)(1)-(3). In addition, the department of health shall notify all health care facilities annually through licensure renewals of their obligations under this section.
(g) The requirements of this section shall become effective on and after October 1, 2010.
