Legislature(2023 - 2024)DAVIS 106
03/21/2023 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s): Department of Family and Community Services | |
| HB57 | |
| HB46 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 57 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 46 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 57-EMERGENCY MED. SVCS: REVIEW ORGANIZATIONS
4:02:06 PM
CHAIR PRAX announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 57, "An Act relating to review organizations and
permitting an emergency medical services provider to establish a
review organization; and relating to patient records."
4:02:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STANLEY WRIGHT, Alaska State Legislature, as
prime sponsor, paraphrased the sponsor statement [hardcover in
committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
House Bill 57 gives EMS agencies protections for peer
review activities.
Peer review is an intensive self-evaluation process
used within healthcare organizations in order to
continuously monitor and improve patient care. Peer
review activities are non-discoverable this
important protection is provided by states to
healthcare organizations to establish an environment
conducive to improvement, without fear of discovery
and litigation. The current status provides a chilling
effect on the openness and educational process that
EMS peer review provides.
This proposed legislation will promote candor and
objectivity in EMS system review and discussion. It is
essential that allowing EMS medical practitioners to
frankly discuss care and conduct in a confidential
setting, without worry about external access to the
information, would enhance the quality of pre-hospital
medical practice.
Past legal decisions have asserted that the existing
statutory provisions which provide this protection to
medical facilities, institutions, or hospital
governing bodies and their committees, provide the
same protections to emergency medical services (EMS)
and fire-based pre-hospital agencies. This is an
untested theory and places pre-hospital medical
agencies in an unprotected status which other entities
enjoy.
HB 57 changes the definition of "review organization"
to include EMS groups who perform quality improvement
functions. By doing so, they are afforded equitable
immunity and confidentiality protection that hospitals
and other healthcare workers enjoy. Peer review
protection is essential if Alaska's EMS systems are to
be used to their maximum potential. Passage of this
legislation enhances the safety of the public and the
educational process for EMS through the peer review
program.
4:04:35 PM
PI RIORDAN-RANDALL, Staff, Representative Stanley Wright, Alaska
State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Wright, prime
sponsor of HB 57, read the sectional analysis [included in the
committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Section I:
Amends AS 18.23.070(1) to Include EMT's, dispatchers,
and paramedics in the definition of "health care
provider" for the purpose of peer review protection.
Section II:
Amends the definition of "healthcare provider" in AS
18.23.070(3) to include EMS agencies and employees who
are conducting peer review activities.
Section III:
AS 18.23.070(5) is amended to include emergency
medical services agencies and employees under the
definition of a "review organization"
4:07:28 PM
BRIAN WEBB, representing self, referred to his written testimony
[included in committee packet]. He noted that he had previously
spoken to the importance of recruitment and retention of
emergency medical services (EMS) medical directors, and he
called HB 57 a request to provide protections to EMS services,
the fire departments that engage in EMS quality assurance
programs, and individual EMS responders, including many
volunteers. He said EMS committees not only review patient care
activities but also openly challenge medical directors and
training officers to defend the care given. He said Alaska EMS
is just asking the legislature to provide a level of equity in
statute for EMS.
4:12:18 PM
DR. JOSEPH LIVENGOOD, representing self, shared that he is an
acute care surgeon that works in Fairbanks and Ketchikan, and
also serves as EMS director for several agencies. He said it is
important to have the information necessary to improve patient
care. He said that HB 57 clarifies that EMS agencies are
identified as a covered entity under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) privacy rules, which
allow for the sharing of patient information for the purpose of
quality management and for discussion to occur without
discoverability that may be misconstrued or presented out of
context during an outside review. He relayed to members that
such protections are in place already for hospitals and clinics,
but for EMS they are not.
4:14:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MINA noted that podiatrists are not included in
statute. She asked, with the chilling effect happening with
quality assurance for EMS, whether that is happening with
podiatry.
MR. WEBB answered that, in 2015, podiatrists had the same
concern as EMS. He said that there was an amendment to the
original bill adding podiatrists, and that, during the drafting
of HB 57, it was decided that it would be left in.
4:15:55 PM
CHAIR PRAX announced that HB 57 was held over.