Section 94.02. Definitions.

  In this chapter:

(1)  "Body cavity search" means a strip search in which body cavities are inspected by the entry of an object or fingers into body cavities.

(2)  "Body search" means a personal search, a strip search or a body cavity search of a patient.

(3)  "Client," as used in subch. III , means a patient.

(4)  "Client rights specialist" means a person designated by a program or a coalition of programs to facilitate informal resolution of concerns where requested and to conduct program level reviews of grievances and make proposed factual findings, determinations of merit and recommendations for resolution which are provided to the program manager and the client.

(5)  "Coalition of programs," as used in subch. III , means a group of programs which have joined together for the explicit purpose of operating a combined grievance resolution system.

(6)  "Community placement" means a living situation which is arranged with the assistance of a case manager or service coordinator or a person or agency performing tasks similar to those performed by a case manager or service coordinator and which is either a residential setting that is directed and controlled by the individual or his or her guardian or a place licensed or certified as a residential care facility or care home for either adults or children by representatives of the state or county government pursuant to a comprehensive individualized plan of care or service.

(7)  "Concern" means a complaint, disagreement or dispute which a client or a person on behalf of a client may have with a program or program staff which the client chooses to resolve through the informal resolution process pursuant to s. DHS 94.40 (4) .

(8)  "County department" means the county department of human services established under s. 46.23 , Stats., the county department of community programs established under s. 51.42 , Stats., or the county department of developmental disabilities services established under s. 51.437 , Stats.

(9)  "Court order" means a lawful order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(10)  "Department" means the Wisconsin department of health services.

(11)  "Director" means the administrator of a treatment facility or the person directing the activities of any other service provider.

(12)  "Drastic treatment procedure" means an extraordinary or last resort treatment method which places the patient at serious risk for permanent psychological or physical injury, including psychosurgery, convulsive therapy other than electroconvulsive therapy and behavior modification using painful stimuli.

(13)  "Emergency" means that it is likely that the patient may physically harm himself or herself or others.

(14)  "Emergency situation" means a situation in which, based on the information available at the time, there is reasonable cause to believe that a client or a group of clients is at significant risk of physical or emotional harm due to the circumstances identified in a grievance or concern.

(15)  "Financial benefit" means improvement in the functioning of a facility due to patient labor.

(16)  "Forensic unit" means an inpatient ward or unit where a majority of the patients are admitted or committed under ch. 971 or 975 , Stats., or under s. 51.37 (5) , Stats.

(17)  "Grievance" means a statement by a grievant that an action or an inaction by a program or its staff has abridged rights guaranteed to the client under s. 51.61 , Stats., and this chapter combined with a request that the matter be dealt with through the program's formal grievance resolution process pursuant to s. DHS 94.40 (5) .

(18)  "Grievance examiner" means a staff person of the department designated by the secretary to conduct first administrative level reviews of grievances appealed from programs operating independently from a county department and second administrative level reviews of grievances filed regarding programs operated by or under contract with a county department.

(19)  "Grievance resolution system" means the procedures established by a program or coalition of programs for formally responding to a grievance.

(20)  "Grievant" means a client who has lodged a grievance or a person who has lodged a grievance on behalf of a client pursuant to s. DHS 94.49 .

(21)  "Hospital" has the meaning prescribed in s. 50.33 (2) , Stats.

(22)  "Informed consent" or "consent" means written consent voluntarily signed by a patient who is competent and who understands the terms of the consent, or by the patient's legal guardian or the parent of a minor, as permitted under s. 51.61 (6) and (8) , Stats., without any form of coercion, or temporary oral consent obtained by telephone in accordance with s. DHS 94.03 (2m) .

(23)  "Inpatient" means a person who is receiving treatment, care, services or supports while residing in an inpatient treatment facility, a residential treatment facility or in any facility or home which is subject to regulation as a place of residence and service provision for patients by the department, a county department or a county department of social services established under s. 46.215 or 46.22 , Stats.

(24)  "Inpatient treatment facility" has the meaning prescribed for "inpatient facility" in s. 51.01 (10) , Stats., and includes the mental health institutes as defined in s. 51.01 (12) , Stats., the Milwaukee county mental health center established under s. 51.08 , Stats., and county hospitals established under s. 51.09 , Stats.

(25)  "Institutional review board" means a board established under 45 CFR 46 .

(26)  "Isolation" means any process by which a person is physically or socially set apart by staff from others but does not include separation for the purpose of controlling contagious disease.

(27)  "Least restrictive treatment" means treatment and services which will best meet the patient's treatment and security needs and which least limit the patient's freedom of choice and mobility.

(28)  "Mechanical support" means an apparatus that is used to properly align a patient's body or to help a patient maintain his or her balance.

(29)  "Medical restraint" means an apparatus or procedure that restricts the free movement of a patient during a medical or surgical procedure or prior to or subsequent to such a procedure to prevent further harm to the patient or to aid in the patient's recovery, or to protect a patient during the time a medical condition exists.

(30)  "Outpatient" means a person receiving treatment, care, services or supports from any service provider if the person receiving the services does not reside in a facility or home owned, operated or managed by the service provider.

(31)  "Outpatient treatment facility" means a service provider providing services for patients who do not reside in a facility or home owned, operated or managed by the service provider.

(32)  "Patient" has the meaning prescribed in s. 51.61 (1) (intro.) , Stats.

(33)  "Personal search" means a search of the patient's person, including the patient's pockets, frisking his or her body, an examination of the patient's shoes and hat and a visual inspection of the patient's mouth.

(34)  "Physical restraint" means any physical hold or apparatus, excluding a medical restraint or mechanical support, that interferes with the free movement of a person's limbs and body.

(35)  "Program," as used in subch. III , means any public or private organization or agency, other than Mendota and Winnebago mental health institutes, the state centers for persons with developmental disabilities and the Wisconsin resource center, which provides services or residential care for a client for mental illness, a developmental disability, alcoholism or drug dependency.

(36)  "Program director" means the person appointed to administer the county department's programs.

(37)  "Program manager," as used in subch. III , refers to the individual in charge of the operation of a program who has the specific authority to approve and implement decisions made through the grievance resolution process.

(38)  "Research" means a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge, except that it does not include an investigation involving only treatment records or routine follow-up questionnaires.

(39)  "Residential treatment facility" means a treatment facility or home that provides a 24-hour residential living program and services for inpatients, which is subject to regulation as a place of residence and services for patients by the department or any county department or a county department of social services under s. 46.215 or 46.22 , Stats., including a center for the developmentally disabled as defined in s. 51.01 (3) , Stats.

(40)  "Seclusion" means that form of isolation in which a person is physically set apart by staff from others through the use of locked doors.

(41)  "Secretary" means the head of the department.

(42)  "Service provider" means an agency, facility or individual providing treatment, care, services or supports to clients.

(43)  "Strip search" means a search in which the patient is required to remove all of his or her clothing. Permissible inspection includes examination of the patient's clothing and body and visual inspection of his or her body cavities.

(44)  "Treatment" has the meaning prescribed in s. 51.01 (17) , Stats.

(45)  "Treatment facility" means any publicly or privately operated facility, unit in a facility or agency providing treatment, habilitation or rehabilitation for alcoholic, drug dependent, mentally ill or developmentally disabled persons, including an inpatient treatment facility, a residential treatment facility or an outpatient treatment facility.

Cr. Register, January, 1987, No. 373 , eff. 2-1-87 ; r. and recr. Register, June, 1996, No. 486 , eff. 7-1-96; correction in (8) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register January 2002 No. 553 ; correction in (10) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., Stats., Register November 2008 No. 635 .