Relating to perinatal bereavement care provided by certain hospitals, a perinatal bereavement care initiative, and a perinatal bereavement care hospital recognition program.

Contracts

• Medical Device Vendors: If your facility does not own a perinatal bereavement device (e.g., CuddleCot), you must immediately assess vendor contracts for acquisition or rental.
• Counseling Services: Review Master Service Agreements (MSAs) with third-party chaplaincy or social work providers. Ensure their scope of work includes on-call availability for perinatal loss cases that aligns with the new extended length-of-stay requirement.

Hiring/Training

• Bed Management Protocols: Nursing and administrative staff must be trained immediately that patients experiencing perinatal loss cannot be discharged early solely due to the absence of a live infant.
• Compassionate Care Training: While the state "Recognition Program" is voluntary, the statute implies a duty to train. Implement training for L&D staff on "considerate and respectful" interactions immediately to mitigate liability risk.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• EHR Modifications: You must modify Electronic Health Records to include mandatory fields for:
• 1. The affirmative offer of bereavement counseling.
• 2. The affirmative offer of a bereavement device.
• 3. The patient's acceptance or refusal of these resources.
• Device Logs: Maintain maintenance logs for cooling devices to prove they were "available" and functional at the time of patient need.

Fees & Costs

• Capital Expenditure: If no device is currently in inventory, anticipate an immediate unbudgeted expense (approx. $3,000 - $6,000 per unit) to meet the "availability" standard.
• Operational Costs: Absorb costs associated with extended length of stay (24-96 hours) for patients who are not providing newborn care, which may impact bed turnover rates.