Iowa Admin. Code r. 441-85.1 - [Effective 8/1/2025] Acute care in psychiatric hospitals
These rules do not apply to general hospitals with psychiatric units.
(1)
Psychiatric hospitals serving persons aged 21 and older. A
psychiatric hospital serving persons aged 21 and older shall meet the federal
criteria for an institution for mental disease and shall be licensed pursuant
to rule 481-51.23 (135B). An
out-of-state facility shall be licensed as a psychiatric hospital, shall meet
the federal criteria for an institution for mental disease, and shall be
certified to participate in the Medicare program. An institution is an
institution for mental disease only if its overall character is that of a
facility established and maintained primarily for the care and treatment of
persons with mental diseases. The following guidelines are used by the
department in evaluating the overall character of a facility. These guidelines
are all useful in identifying institutions for mental disease; however, no
single guideline is necessarily determinative in any given case.
a. The facility:
(1) Is licensed as a psychiatric facility for the care and
treatment of persons with mental diseases.
(2) Advertises or holds itself out as a facility for the care and
treatment of persons with mental diseases.
(3) Is accredited as a psychiatric facility by the Joint
Commission or by any other federally recognized accrediting organization that
has comparable standards or surveys and is approved by the department of
inspections, appeals, and licensing.
(4) Specializes in providing psychiatric or psychological care and
treatment. This may be ascertained through review of patients' records. It may
also be indicated by the fact that an unusually large proportion of the staff
has specialized psychiatric or psychological training or that a large
proportion of the patients are receiving psychopharmacological drugs.
(5) Is under the jurisdiction of the
department.
b. More than
50 percent of all the patients in the facility have mental diseases that
require inpatient treatment according to the patient's medical
records.
c. A large proportion of
the patients in the facility has been transferred from a state mental
institution for continuing treatment of their mental disorders.
d. Independent review teams report a
preponderance of mental illness in the diagnoses of the patients in the
facility.
e. The average patient
age is significantly lower than that of a typical nursing home.
f. Part or all of the facility consists of
locked wards.
(2)
Psychiatric hospitals serving persons under the age of 21. A
psychiatric hospital serving persons under the age of 21 shall be licensed
pursuant to rule 481-51.23 (135B) or shall be
licensed in another state as a hospital; shall be accredited by the Joint
Commission, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the
Council on Accreditation of Services for Children and Family Services, or by
any other federally recognized accrediting organization that has comparable
standards or surveys and is approved by the department of inspections, appeals,
and licensing; and shall meet federal service
requirements.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
These rules do not apply to general hospitals with psychiatric units.
(1) Psychiatric hospitals serving persons aged 21 and older. A psychiatric hospital serving persons aged 21 and older shall meet the federal criteria for an institution for mental disease and shall be licensed pursuant to department of inspections and appeals rule 481-51.36 (135B). An out-of-state facility shall be licensed as a psychiatric hospital, shall meet the federal criteria for an institution for mental disease, and shall be certified to participate in the Medicare program. An institution is an institution for mental disease only if its overall character is that of a facility established and maintained primarily for the care and treatment of persons with mental diseases. The following guidelines are used by the department in evaluating the overall character of a facility. These guidelines are all useful in identifying institutions for mental disease; however, no single guideline is necessarily determinative in any given case.
a. The facility:
(1) Is licensed as a psychiatric facility for the care and treatment of persons with mental diseases.
(2) Advertises or holds itself out as a facility for the care and treatment of persons with mental diseases.
(3) Is accredited as a psychiatric facility by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations or by any other federally recognized accrediting organization that has comparable standards or surveys and is approved by the department of inspections and appeals.
(4) Specializes in providing psychiatric or psychological care and treatment. This may be ascertained through review of patients' records. It may also be indicated by the fact that an unusually large proportion of the staff has specialized psychiatric or psychological training or that a large proportion of the patients are receiving psychopharmacological drugs.
(5) Is under the jurisdiction of the department.
b. More than 50 percent of all the patients in the facility have mental diseases which require inpatient treatment according to the patient's medical records.
c. A large proportion of the patients in the facility has been transferred from a state mental institution for continuing treatment of their mental disorders.
d. Independent review teams report a preponderance of mental illness in the diagnoses of the patients in the facility.
e. The average patient age is significantly lower than that of a typical nursing home.
f. Part or all of the facility consists of locked wards.
(2) Psychiatric hospitals serving persons under the age of 21. A psychiatric hospital serving persons under the age of 21 shall be licensed pursuant to department of inspections and appeals rule 481-51.36 (135B) or shall be licensed in another state as a hospital, shall be accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, the Commission of Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children, or by any other federally recognized accrediting organization that has comparable standards or surveys and is approved by the department of inspections and appeals, and shall meet federal service requirements.