Iowa § 135G.1 - 135G.1 Definitions.

§ 135G.1. 135G.1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. “Advanced registered nurse practitioner” means a person currently licensed as a registered nurse under chapter 152 or 152E who is licensed by the board of nursing as an advanced registered nurse practitioner. 2. “Department” means the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing. 3. “Direction” means authoritative policy or procedural guidance for the accomplishment of a function or an activity. 4. “Licensee” means the holder of a license issued to operate a subacute care facility for persons with serious and persistent mental illness. 5. “Mental health professional” means the same as defined in section 228.1. 6. “Mental health services” means services provided by a mental health professional operating within the scope of the professional’s practice which address mental, emotional, medical, or behavioral problems. 7. “Physician” means a person licensed under chapter 148. 8. “Physician assistant” means a person licensed under chapter 148C. 9. “Rehabilitative services” means services to encourage and assist restoration of a resident’s optimum mental and physical capabilities. 10. “Resident” means a person who is eighteen years of age or older and has been determined by a mental health professional to need subacute mental health services. 11. “Subacute care facility for persons with serious and persistent mental illness” or “subacute care facility” means an institution, place, building, or agency with restricted means of egress providing subacute mental health services for a period exceeding twenty-four consecutive hours to persons in need of the services. 12. a. “Subacute mental health services” means services that provide all of the following: (1) A comprehensive set of wraparound services for a person who has had, or is at imminent risk of having, acute or crisis mental health symptoms that do not permit the person to remain in or threatens removal of the person from the person’s home and community, but who has been determined by a mental health professional and a licensed health care professional, subject to the professional’s scope of practice, not to need inpatient acute hospital services. For the purposes of this subparagraph, “licensed health care professional” means a person licensed under chapter 148, an advanced registered nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant. (2) Intensive, recovery-oriented treatment and monitoring of a person. Treatment may be provided directly or remotely by a licensed psychiatrist or an advanced registered nurse practitioner. (3) An outcome-focused, interdisciplinary approach designed to return a person to living successfully in the community. b. “Subacute mental health services” may include services provided in a wide array of settings ranging from a person’s home to a specialized facility with restricted means of egress. c. “Subacute mental health services” shall be limited to a period not to exceed ten calendar days or another time period determined in accordance with rules adopted by the department for this purpose, whichever is longer. 13. “Supervision” means direct oversight and inspection of the act of accomplishing a function or activity. 14. “Treatment care plan” means a plan of care and services designed to eliminate the need for acute care by improving the condition of a person with serious and persistent mental illness. Services must be based upon a diagnostic evaluation, which includes an examination of the medical, psychological, social, behavioral, and developmental aspects of the person’s situation, reflecting the need for inpatient care. 2012 Acts, ch 1120, §40; 2015 Acts, ch 56, §2; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1891; 2023 Acts, ch 73, §2; 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §28, 137 2024 amendment to subsection 12 effective July 1, 2025; 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §137 Subsection 12 amended Wed Dec 10 22:53:39 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 135G.1 (23, 2)