HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2575

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO TRAUMA.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature has recognized that in Hawaii injury is the leading cause of death for persons between the ages of one to forty-four and, therefore, the improvement of trauma care in Hawaii is a public health priority.

     By Act 305, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, the department of health was charged with the continuing development and operation of a comprehensive statewide trauma system in order to save lives and improve outcomes of injured patients.  To improve patient care, a comprehensive trauma system requires the systematic review of information related to patient care and system performance by all parties involved in a protected environment that supports participation and frank discussion.  The importance of protecting peer review of health care provided is recognized in Hawaii by statute in section 624-25.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  The department of health's child death review is also protected under sections 321-341 and 321-345, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  This measure seeks to establish that statewide emergency and trauma system multiagency and multidisciplinary quality assurance and peer review committees convened and conducted by the department of health for the purposes of improving patient care, have similar protections as those committees formed by hospitals and health maintenance organizations.

     SECTION 2.  Section 321-230, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§321-230  Technical assistance, data collection, evaluation.  (a)  The department may contract for technical assistance and consultation, including but not limited to categorization, data collection, and evaluation appropriate to the needs of the state system.  The collection and analysis of statewide emergency medical services data, including pediatrics, trauma, cardiac, medical, and behavioral medical emergencies, shall be for the purpose of improving the quality of services provided.

     The department may implement and maintain a trauma registry for the collection of information concerning the treatment of critical trauma patients at state designated trauma centers, and carry out a system for the management of that information.  The system may provide for the recording of information concerning treatment received before and after a trauma patient's admission to a hospital or medical center.  All state designated trauma centers shall submit to the department [of health] periodic reports of each patient treated for trauma in the state system in such manner as the department shall specify.

In order to analyze, evaluate, and improve the statewide trauma system and the services it provides to the public, the department may form multidisciplinary and multiagency quality assurance and peer review committees that shall be exempt from chapter 92.  These committees shall comprise representatives of trauma, emergency, and tertiary care providers and agencies and shall review patient care records and system performance and make recommendations to the department for system improvement.

     For the purposes of this subsection, "categorization" means systematic identification of the readiness and capabilities of hospitals and their staffs to adequately, expeditiously, and efficiently receive and treat emergency patients.

     (b)  The department shall establish, administer, and maintain an aeromedical emergency medical services system designed to collect and analyze data to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of each phase of an emergency aeromedical program.

     The aeromedical emergency medical services system shall serve the emergency health needs of the people of the State by identifying:

     (1)  The system's strengths and weaknesses;

     (2)  The allocation of resources; and

     (3)  The development of rotary-wing emergency aeromedical services standards;

provided that emergency helicopter use, including triage protocols, shall be based on national aeromedical triage and transport guidelines established by the Association of Air Medical Services, the American College of Surgeons and the National Association of Emergency Medical Service Physicians.  The department, in the implementation of this subsection, shall plan, coordinate, and provide assistance to all entities and agencies, public and private, involved in the system.

     (c)  The department shall use an emergency aeromedical services quality improvement committee comprised of representatives of trauma, emergency, and tertiary care physicians and providers to analyze information collected from the aeromedical quality improvement performance measures as established by the American College of Surgeons, and to recommend system standards and resources to maintain and improve the Hawaii emergency aeromedical services system.

(d)  No individual participating in the review of patient care records and system performance as part of the department's quality assurance, quality improvement, and peer review committees as set forth in this part may be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding information presented in or opinions formed as a result of participation in those reviews.  Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent a person from testifying to information obtained independently of the department's multidisciplinary and multiagency review of patient care records and system performance, or which is public information, or where disclosure is required by law or court order.

(e)  Information held by the department as a result of patient care records and system performance reviews conducted under this part is not subject to chapter 92F, subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except that patient care records and system performance review information otherwise available from other sources is not immune from chapter 92F, subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence through those sources solely because they were provided as required by this part.

(f)  To the extent that this section conflicts with other state confidentiality laws, this section shall prevail."

SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

BY REQUEST


 


 

Report Title:

Trauma

 

Description:

Provide statutory protection from discovery for the Department of Health trauma care multiagency and multidisciplinary peer review and quality assurance committees.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.