Chapter 444 — Special Medical Services for Children

 

2023 EDITION

 

 

SPECIAL MEDICAL SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

 

PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY

 

SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL HEALTH NEEDS

 

444.010     Oregon Health and Science University to administer program for children with disabilities

 

444.020     Authority in administering services for children with special health needs; rules

 

444.030     Oregon Health and Science University responsible for administration of services

 

444.040     Services for Children with Special Health Needs Account; expenditure of funds; payment of claims

 

444.050     Children not treated if parents object

 

CARE AND TREATMENT FOR INDIGENT CHILDREN

 

444.110     Complaint; examination; report of physician; investigation

 

444.120     Hearing; notice; evidence; order directing free treatment

 

444.130     Treatment of children

 

444.140     Rejection of patients referred

 

444.150     Physician not compensated for treatment

 

444.160     Account and statement of treatment

 

444.170     Approval of statement; payment of account

 

444.180     Appointment of attendant to accompany child

 

444.190     Compensation of attendant and examining physician

 

444.200     Reimbursing Oregon Health and Science University for expenses in returning patients

 

444.210     Treatment of child at other hospital

 

444.220     Compensation for treatment at other hospitals

 

444.230     Unspecified treatment and experimentation prohibited

 

444.240     Preparation and distribution of examination blanks; printing cost

 

CHILDHOOD DIABETES DATABASE

 

444.300     Database on childhood diabetes; rules

 

444.310     Annual survey of students

 

444.320     Physician report of childhood diabetes

 

444.330     Confidentiality of information

 

SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL HEALTH NEEDS

 

      444.010 Oregon Health and Science University to administer program for children with disabilities. (1) The Oregon Health and Science University is designated to administer a program the purpose of which is to enable the state to extend and improve services for locating children with disabilities and for providing medical, surgical, corrective and other services and care, and facilities for diagnosis, hospitalization and after care for such children and for children having conditions which lead to disability.

      (2) The Oregon Health and Science University shall also supervise the administration of those services included in the program which are not administered directly by it. [Amended by 1975 c.693 §8; 1989 c.224 §104; 1995 c.162 §81; 2007 c.70 §252]

 

      444.020 Authority in administering services for children with special health needs; rules. The Oregon Health and Science University may:

      (1) Make all necessary rules and regulations for administering services to children with disabilities under ORS 444.010 to 444.050.

      (2) Accept, expend and disburse all federal funds made available to this state for services for children with disabilities and for the administration of services for children with special health needs.

      (3) Make such reports in such form and containing such information as are required by the federal government, and comply with such provisions as are found necessary to ensure correctness and verification of such reports.

      (4) Cooperate with medical, health, nursing and welfare groups and organizations and with any agencies in the state charged with administering state laws providing for vocational rehabilitation of children with physical disabilities.

      (5) Cooperate with the federal government through its appropriate agency or instrumentality in administering services for children with special health needs.

      (6) Accept and receive funds, money or other valuable things from relatives, corporations or interested persons or organizations for the care of children with disabilities and expend the same for the purposes for which such funds, money or other valuable things were received.

      (7) Accept and receive fees for services rendered under ORS 444.010 to 444.050. [Amended by 1975 c.693 §9; 1989 c.224 §105; 1995 c.162 §82; 2007 c.70 §253]

 

      444.030 Oregon Health and Science University responsible for administration of services. The Oregon Health and Science University shall be responsible for the administration of services for children with special health needs under ORS 444.010 to 444.050 and may establish:

      (1) Qualifications of medical, nursing and other personnel employed in connection with services to children with disabilities.

      (2) Standards of medical practice, hospitalization, nursing and other services, and diagnostic clinics. [Amended by 1975 c.693 §10; 1989 c.224 §106; 2007 c.70 §254]

 

      444.040 Services for Children with Special Health Needs Account; expenditure of funds; payment of claims. (1) There is created in the General Fund of the State Treasury an account to be known as the Services for Children with Special Health Needs Account.

      (2) All moneys received under ORS 444.020 shall be deposited in the Services for Children with Special Health Needs Account and shall be disbursed in the same manner as the moneys appropriated for carrying out ORS 444.010 to 444.050.

      (3) Moneys in the account are continuously appropriated to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services for use by the Oregon Health and Science University in carrying out the program described in ORS 444.010.

      (4) The Oregon Department of Administrative Services shall draw warrants to pay all claims duly approved by the Oregon Health and Science University, which have been incurred in pursuance of law and the appropriation in subsection (3) of this section. [Amended by 1975 c.693 §11; 1983 c.740 §163; 1989 c.224 §107; 1995 c.162 §83; 2005 c.755 §38]

 

      444.050 Children not treated if parents object. In carrying out ORS 444.010 to 444.040, no state official, agent or representative shall take charge of any child over the objection of either of the parents of such child, or of the person standing in loco parentis to such child.

 

CARE AND TREATMENT FOR INDIGENT CHILDREN

 

      444.110 Complaint; examination; report of physician; investigation. (1) Any judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005 may on the motion of the judge, or shall, on complaint filed by any probation officer, school teacher or school officer, relief officer or physician authorized to practice in this state, alleging that the child named therein is under 16 years of age and has some condition or injury or disease that can probably be remedied, and that the parents or other persons legally chargeable with the support of such child are unable to provide means for the surgical and medical treatment and hospital care of such child, appoint some physician who shall personally examine such child with respect to this medical condition.

      (2) The examining physician shall make a written report to the judge, in duplicate on blanks furnished as provided in ORS 444.240, within the time fixed by the judge. The report shall answer the questions and set forth the information required on the blanks, giving such history of the case as will be likely to aid the surgical or medical treatment of the condition or disease or injury and describing it, all in detail, and stating whether or not, in the opinion of the physician, it can probably be remedied. The duplicate of the report shall be sent to the Oregon Health and Science University with the patient, together with a certified copy of the order of the judge made pursuant to ORS 444.120.

      (3) The judge may also appoint some suitable person to investigate the other matters charged in the complaint. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §24; 1989 c.224 §108; 1993 c.33 §351]

 

      444.120 Hearing; notice; evidence; order directing free treatment. (1) Upon filing a report under ORS 444.110, the judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005 shall:

      (a) Fix a day for a hearing upon the complaint.

      (b) Cause the person or institution having legal custody of the child to be served with a notice of the hearing.

      (c) Notify the district attorney, who shall appear and conduct the proceedings.

      (2) At the hearing of the complaint, evidence may be introduced. If the judge finds that the child has a deformity or malady which can probably be remedied by surgical or medical treatment and hospital care, and that the person or institution legally chargeable with the support of the child is unable to pay the expenses thereof, the judge, with the consent of the person or institution having the legal charge of the child, may enter an order directing that the child shall be taken or sent to the Oregon Health and Science University for free surgical and medical treatment and hospital care. The child shall also be provided with proper and sufficient clothing. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §25; 1993 c.33 §352; 2007 c.70 §255]

 

      444.130 Treatment of children. (1) The president of the Oregon Health and Science University, or other person designated by the president shall:

      (a) Upon receiving the child, provide for it, if available, hospital facilities.

      (b) Designate the clinic of the Oregon Health and Science University to which the patient shall be assigned for treatment of the deformity or malady in each particular case.

      (2) The Oregon Health and Science University is not required to receive any child unless the physician or surgeon in charge of the department in which surgical or medical treatment is to be furnished is of the opinion that there is a reasonable probability that the child will be benefited by the proposed treatment.

      (3) When any patient has been admitted to the clinic for treatment, the physician or surgeon in charge thereof shall proceed with all proper diligence to perform such operation and bestow such treatment upon the patient as in the judgment of the physician or surgeon shall be proper. The patient shall receive proper hospital care during the stay there. [Amended by 1975 c.693 §12]

 

      444.140 Rejection of patients referred. If the physician or surgeon of the clinic to which the child has been assigned for treatment declines to treat the child, the physician or surgeon shall make a report, in duplicate, of the examination of the child and state therein the reasons for declining treatment. The duplicate copy of the report shall be preserved in the records of the Oregon Health and Science University; the original shall be transmitted to the clerk of the court of the county where the order committing the child was entered.

 

      444.150 Physician not compensated for treatment. No compensation shall be charged by or allowed to the physician or surgeon who treats a patient committed under ORS 444.120.

 

      444.160 Account and statement of treatment. The superintendent of the hospital or other person designated by the authorities of the Oregon Health and Science University shall:

      (1) Keep a correct account of the medicine, treatment, nursing and maintenance furnished to the patient, and set forth therein the actual, reasonable and necessary cost thereof.

      (2) Make and file monthly with the judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005 of the county from which the patient was committed, an itemized, sworn statement, as far as possible, of the expense incurred at the hospital other than the free surgical and medical treatment as provided in ORS 444.120. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §26; 1993 c.33 §353]

 

      444.170 Approval of statement; payment of account. The judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005 shall present the statement of the Oregon Health and Science University to the board of county commissioners. Upon being satisfied that the statement is correct and reasonable, the board of county commissioners shall approve it and direct that warrants be drawn by the county clerk upon the county treasurer for the amount of such bills allowed. The warrants as drawn by the county clerk shall be transmitted to the Oregon Health and Science University. The warrants shall be deposited to the credit of the university funds which are set aside for the support of the hospital under the direction of the Oregon Health and Science University. The county treasurer shall pay the warrants out of the funds collected for the relief of the poor of the county. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §27; 1975 c.693 §13; 1993 c.33 §354]

 

      444.180 Appointment of attendant to accompany child. The judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005 may, in the discretion of the judge, appoint some person to accompany the child from the place where the child is to the Oregon Health and Science University, or from the Oregon Health and Science University to such place as is designated by the judge with the consent of the person having legal custody of the child. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §28; 1975 c.693 §14; 1993 c.33 §355]

 

      444.190 Compensation of attendant and examining physician. (1) Any person appointed as attendant under ORS 444.180 or to make an investigation and report of any questions involved in the complaint other than the examining physician, shall receive $3 per day for time actually spent in making an investigation and for actual and necessary expenses incurred in making an investigation or trip except that no compensation shall be paid in cases where the person appointed is a parent or relative or where the officer appointed receives a fixed salary or compensation.

      (2) Upon demand, the examining physician shall be paid no more than $5 for each examination and report made and the actual necessary expenses of the physician incurred in making an investigation under ORS 444.110.

      (3) A person making claim for compensation under this section shall present to the judge of the juvenile court an itemized sworn statement thereof and when such claim has been approved by the judge, it shall be filed and allowed by the board of county commissioners and paid out of the funds of the county collected for the relief of the poor. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §29]

 

      444.200 Reimbursing Oregon Health and Science University for expenses in returning patients. (1) The Oregon Health and Science University, in the discretion of the person designated by the authorities in control thereof, may pay:

      (a) Actual, reasonable, necessary expenses of returning the patient to the home of the patient.

      (b) The attendant the actual, reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in accompanying a patient to the home of the patient and no more than $3 per day for the time thus necessarily employed, unless the attendant is a parent or relative or an officer or employee receiving other compensation.

      (2) The per diem and expenses shall be itemized and verified, and presented to and allowed by the board of county commissioners of the county from which the patient was committed, as provided in ORS 444.170.

 

      444.210 Treatment of child at other hospital. (1) Upon the written request of the person or institution having legal custody of a child, filed with the judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005 at the time of the hearing under ORS 444.120, to the effect that the person or institution having legal custody of the child desires the child taken or sent to a designated hospital or medical school of recognized standing or character which is not under the direction or supervision of the Oregon Health and Science University, the judge may make and enter an order directing that the child be taken or sent to the designated institution for free surgical and medical treatment and hospital care, including the furnishing of proper and sufficient clothing.

      (2) The reception by an institution of such child as a patient, pursuant to court order, is considered an acceptance on its part of all the provisions of ORS 444.110 to 444.240 which relate to or in anywise apply to hospitalization of children at the Oregon Health and Science University, except as provided in ORS 444.220. Such institution shall furnish the child with all proper and requisite medical or surgical care and attention without compensation, and comply with ORS 444.110 to 444.240 while the child remains in the institution as a patient. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §30; 1975 c.693 §15; 1993 c.33 §356]

 

      444.220 Compensation for treatment at other hospitals. When any child, pursuant to ORS 444.210, becomes a patient at any institution not affiliated with the Oregon Health and Science University, the person in charge thereof shall perform all duties and requirements set forth in ORS 444.160; and all warrants in payment of any bills or accounts therein mentioned shall be made payable to such institution. [Amended by 1975 c.693 §116]

 

      444.230 Unspecified treatment and experimentation prohibited. (1) No child under the terms of ORS 444.110 to 444.240 shall be treated for any ailment except as is described by the order of the court under ORS 444.120, unless permission for such treatment is granted by the parents or guardians.

      (2) No child shall be used for the purpose of experimentation.

 

      444.240 Preparation and distribution of examination blanks; printing cost. (1) The Oregon Health and Science University shall prepare blanks containing such questions and requiring such information as may in its judgment be necessary and proper to be obtained by the physician who examines the patient under order of court.

      (2) A supply of such blanks shall be sent to the judge exercising jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 or 419C.005. The president of the Oregon Health and Science University shall determine the number of blanks to be printed and distributed to the judges.

      (3) The bills for the printing of blanks shall be audited, allowed and paid in the same manner as the printing bills of the Oregon Health and Science University. [Amended by 1967 c.534 §31; 1975 c.693 §17; 1993 c.33 §357]

 

CHILDHOOD DIABETES DATABASE

 

      444.300 Database on childhood diabetes; rules. (1) Subject to available funding, including gifts, grants or donations, the Oregon Health Authority shall establish a uniform, statewide database for the collection of information on Type I and Type II diabetes occurring in children in Oregon. The purposes of the database shall be to collect and serve as a repository for data about the prevalence and incidence of diabetes occurring in the pediatric population of this state and to make the data available for scientific and medical research and for assistance in making decisions about the allocation of public resources.

      (2) The database established by subsection (1) of this section shall include data provided to the authority by schools and physicians as required by ORS 444.310 and 444.320.

      (3) The authority shall adopt rules:

      (a) Necessary to carry out the purposes of ORS 444.300 to 444.330, including but not limited to the reporting format and the effective date after which reporting by schools and physicians shall be required; and

      (b) Under which confidential data may be used by third parties to conduct research and studies for the public good. [2001 c.719 §1; 2009 c.595 §797]

 

      444.310 Annual survey of students. The Oregon Health Authority shall conduct an annual survey, to be completed by June 15, of all public schools and public charter schools in Oregon to collect data about diabetes occurring in students. Each school surveyed shall report to the authority for each student enrolled at the school who has Type 1 or Type II diabetes:

      (1) The name and address of the student;

      (2) The gender of the student;

      (3) The date of birth of the student;

      (4) The type of diabetes diagnosed; and

      (5) The date of diagnosis. [2001 c.719 §2; 2009 c.595 §798; 2011 c.301 §9]

 

      444.320 Physician report of childhood diabetes. (1) As used in this section, “child” means an individual 18 years of age or younger.

      (2) In accordance with ORS 444.300, upon diagnosing or first treating a child with Type I or Type II diabetes, a physician shall report to the Oregon Health Authority:

      (a) The name and address of the child;

      (b) The gender of the child;

      (c) The date of birth of the child;

      (d) The type of diabetes the child has; and

      (e) The date of diagnosis or first treatment by the reporting physician. [2001 c.719 §3; 2009 c.595 §799]

 

      444.330 Confidentiality of information. All identifying information regarding individual children that is reported to the Oregon Health Authority pursuant to ORS 444.300 to 444.330 shall be confidential and privileged. Except as required in connection with the administration or enforcement of public health laws or rules, no public health official, employee, agent or other person entitled to access or use data under ORS 444.300 to 444.330 shall be examined in an administrative or judicial proceeding as to the existence or contents of data in the database established under ORS 444.300 to 444.330. Research and studies conducted using confidential data from the statewide database must be reviewed and approved by the body used by the authority as the Committee for the Protection of Human Research Subjects and established in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 46. [2001 c.719 §4; 2009 c.595 §800]

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