§ 19-390

(a) The Department and the Department of Human Services shall establish a pediatric hospital overstay coordinator within each department.

(b) The coordinators shall act in the best interest of a pediatric overstay patient by coordinating between hospitals, relevant State agencies and programs, and providers of mental health and substance use disorder services.

(c) The coordinators shall:

(1) Advocate on behalf of pediatric hospital overstay patients while maintaining appropriate patient confidentiality;

(2) Review policies and procedures of relevant State agencies and make recommendations for necessary changes to the policies and procedures to better serve pediatric hospital overstay patients;

(3) Maintain data on each pediatric hospital overstay patient, including:

(i) Patient’s length of stay;

(ii) The responsible State agency, if applicable;

(iii) Services needed;

(iv) Placement options being sought by the patient;

(v) Information regarding previous hospital admissions for a behavioral health diagnosis; and

(vi) Any other relevant data; and

(4) Report on the data collected under this subsection to the Secretary and the Secretary of Human Services.