N.J.A.C. 8:43K; 8:43A; 8:43E; 8:121; and 10:161B

TRENTON, NJ - The New Jersey Department of Health (Department), in consultation with the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS), is proposing new rules at N.J.A.C. 8:43K to establish the Manual of Standards for Licensure of Outpatient and Integrated Care Facilities. The proposed new rules would establish standards for licensure of facilities to provide outpatient physical health care services (such as primary, reproductive health, and pediatric), outpatient behavioral health treatment services (such as mental health, substance use disorder, and addiction), opioid treatment program services, and/or a combination of these services.

The proposed new rules would enable an entity that wants to provide one or more of these types of services, collectively “under one roof,” to avoid having to apply for separate licenses and be subject to separate licensure and operational standards for each facility type. Instead, the proposed new rules at N.J.A.C. 8:43K would encourage, but not require, outpatient facilities to offer these services in combination to clients in a more convenient and accessible way through a single licensing process and set of operating standards. In turn, this would promote integrated, whole person care, consistent with the declared public policy of the State at N.J.S.A. 26:2H-1 that “integrating physical and behavioral health care is the most effective way to improve the health of individuals and the population at large.” In addition, eliminating the existing mandatory separation of facilities providing outpatient behavioral health care treatment services from facilities providing physical health care services would avoid stigmatizing, or fostering discriminatory treatment of, patients based on the types of health services they seek.

The Department is proposing corresponding amendments and repeals at N.J.A.C. 8:43A, 8:121, and 10:161B, the existing rules that establish separate licensing standards for facilities that provide these various types of outpatient physical and behavioral health services to remove provisions that would become duplicative or redundant upon the adoption of the proposed integrated license rules at N.J.A.C. 8:43K.

The Department is also proposing new rules at N.J.A.C. 8:43E, the General Licensure Procedures and Standards Applicable to All Licensed Facilities, to reflect the addition of the new single integrated outpatient licensure category at N.J.A.C. 8:43K and establish a common application form to be used by applicants for licensure and licensure renewal of all health care facility types under the jurisdiction of the Division of Certificate of Need and Licensure.

The Notice of Proposal appears in the April 21, 2025, issue of the New Jersey Register. Persons wishing to comment on the proposal must submit written comments either electronically by June 20, 2025, to nj.gov/health/legal/rules/notice-of-rule-proposals/ecomments.shtml, or by regular mail postmarked by June 20, 2025, to Genevieve Raganelli, Regulatory Officer, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.

LexisNexis® provides free online access to the New Jersey Register through the website of the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law at nj.gov/oal/rules/accessp. An unofficial copy of the Notice of Proposal is available on the Department’s website at nj.gov/health/legal/rules.

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