BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 659
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                SB 659 (Negrete McLeod) - As Amended:  June 15, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                             HealthVote:15-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill adds tuberculosis (TB) screening results to the 
          information that may be disclosed from a patient's medical 
          record to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) or 
          local health departments operating countywide or regional 
          immunization information and reminder systems.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state fiscal effect.  

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . According to the author, allowing for the addition 
            of tuberculosis screening records in the state's immunization 
            registry will benefit children, parents, and medical providers 
            by allowing the registry to mirror all the information that is 
            on the physical immunization record ("yellow card").  
            Currently, the TB screening result is recorded on the yellow 
            card, but state law does not authorize its inclusion in the 
            immunization registry.  In addition, the Health Officers 
            Association of California, the sponsor of this measure, states 
            that this change will make it easier for elementary school 
            staff to verify that a tuberculosis test has been conducted 
            prior to school entry, as required in certain California 
            counties.  
           
          2)Immunization Registries  . According to the Centers for Disease 
            Control and Prevention (CDC), an immunization registry is a 
            confidential, computerized system that collects and 
            consolidates vaccination data from vaccine providers. 
            Registries are used by health care providers to verify whether 








                                                                  SB 659
                                                                  Page  2

            and when immunizations have been administered to their 
            patients, and by schools to verify compliance with 
            immunization requirements.  All 50 states have registries.  In 
            California, there are currently nine regional registries that 
            are actively working towards consolidation into one statewide 
            registry.  
                
            3)Related Legislation  . The June 16, 2011 version of SB 922 
            (Negrete McLeod) was substantially similar to this bill.  SB 
            922 was amended to a different subject matter.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081