BILL NUMBER: AB 818	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  476
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 23, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 28, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hernandez

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to amend Section 1279.7 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to health facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 818, Hernandez. Health facilities: connection ports.
   Existing law establishes various programs for the prevention of
disease and the promotion of the public health under the
administration of the State Department of Public Health, including,
but not limited to, a program for the licensure and regulation of
health facilities.
   Existing law, to become operative January 1, 2011, prohibits
certain health facilities from using an intravenous, epidural, or
enteral feeding connection that would fit into a connection port
other than the type it was intended for, unless an emergency or
urgent situation exists and the prohibition impairs the ability to
provide health care.
   This bill would, instead, for epidural connections, make the
operative date of this prohibition 36 months after prescribed
standards are developed, or January 1, 2014, whichever occurs first,
and for intravenous and enteral connections, make the operative date
24 months after prescribed standards are developed, or January 1,
2013, whichever occurs first. The bill would require the Advanced
Medical Technology Association to report annually to the Legislature
on the progress of the development of those standards. The bill would
require measures to prevent adverse effects be included in the
health facility patient safety plan, as prescribed.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1279.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   1279.7.  (a) A health facility, as defined in subdivision (a),
(b), (c), or (f) of Section 1250, shall implement a facility-wide
hand hygiene program.
   (b) Commencing 36 months after the publication of a new design
standard for connections for epidural applications by the
International Organization for Standardization, or January 1, 2014,
whichever occurs first, a health facility, as defined in subdivision
(a), (b), (c), or (f) of Section 1250, is prohibited from using an
epidural connection that would fit into a connection port other than
the type it was intended for, unless an emergency or urgent situation
exists and the prohibition would impair the ability to provide
health care.
   (c) Commencing 24 months after the publication of a new design
standard for connections for intravenous or enteral applications by
the International Organization for Standardization, or January 1,
2013, whichever occurs first, a health facility, as defined in
subdivision (a), (b), (c), or (f) of Section 1250, is prohibited from
using an intravenous connection or an enteral feeding connection
that would fit into a connection port other than the type it was
intended for, unless an emergency or urgent situation exists and the
prohibition would impair the ability to provide health care.
   (d) The Advanced Medical Technology Association shall, on January
1 of each year until the standards are developed, provide the
Legislature with a report on the progress of the International
Organization for Standardization in developing new design standards
for connections for intravenous, epidural, or enteral applications.
   (e) A health facility that is required to develop a patient safety
plan pursuant to Section 1279.6 shall include in the patient safety
plan measures to prevent adverse events associated with misconnecting
intravenous, enteral feeding, and epidural lines. This subdivision
shall become inoperative as to epidural connections upon the
operative date of subdivision (b) and as to intravenous and enteral
connections upon the operative date of subdivision (c).