BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 850| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 850 Author: Leno (D) Amended: 9/1/11 Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 05/10/11 AYES: Evans, Corbett, Leno NOES: Harman, Blakeslee SENATE FLOOR : 21-15, 05/31/11 AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Simitian, Steinberg, Wolk, Yee NOES: Anderson, Blakeslee, Cannella, Correa, Dutton, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Huff, La Malfa, Runner, Strickland, Walters, Wyland NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Hernandez, Vargas, Wright ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-18, 9/7/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Medical records: confidential information SOURCE : Consumer Attorneys of California DIGEST : This bill requires electronic health record systems or electronic medical record systems to automatically record and preserve any change or deletion of any electronically stored medical information and would enact related requirements. This bill clarifies that CONTINUED SB 850 Page 2 existing law relating to the destruction of medical records applies to medical information, thus including information kept in both physical and electronic form. Assembly Amendments added definitions, and made technical and clarifying changes. ANALYSIS : Existing law prohibits a health care provider, health care service plan, or contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient, enrollee, or subscriber without first obtaining an authorization, except as specified. (Civ. Code Sec. 56.10(a).) Existing law requires a health care provider, health care service plan, or contractor to disclose medical information if the disclosure is compelled as specified (Civ. Code Sec. 56.10(b)) and permits a health care provider or service plan to disclose medical information in specified circumstances. (Civ. Code Sec. 56.10(c).) Existing law defines "medical information" to mean any individually identifiable information, in electronic or physical form, in possession of or derived from a provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, or contractor regarding a patient's medical history, mental or physical condition, or treatment. Existing law defines "individually identifiable" to mean that the medical information includes or contains any element of personal identifying information sufficient to allow identification of the individual, such as the patient's name, address, electronic mail address, telephone number, or social security number, or other information that, alone or in combination with other publicly available information, reveals the individual's identity. (Civ. Code Sec. 56.05(g).) Existing law requires a health care provider, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, or contractor who creates, maintains, preserves, stores, abandons, destroys, or disposes of medical records to do so in a manner that preserves the confidentiality of the information contained within those records. Existing law provides that any health care provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, or contractor who negligently creates, maintains, preserves, stores, abandons, destroys, CONTINUED SB 850 Page 3 or disposes of medical records shall be subject to existing remedies and penalties, as specified. (Civ. Code Sec. 56.101.) Existing law requires that a health care provider, health care service plan, or contractor must disclose a patient's medical information to him or her. (Civ. Code Sec. 56.10(b)(7).) Existing law provides that an adult patient of a health care provider, any minor patient authorized by law to consent to medical treatment, and any patient representative shall be entitled to inspect the patient's records upon presenting to the health care provider a written request for those records and upon payment of reasonable clerical costs incurred in locating and making the records available. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 123110.) This bill revises Section 56.101, relating to the destruction of medical records to specify that this section applies to the destruction of "medical information" rather than "medical records," thus clarifying that information held in both physical and electronic form is protected. This bill requires electronic health record systems or electronic medical record systems to do the following: 1.Protect and preserve the integrity of electronic medical information. 2.Automatically record and preserve any change or deletion of any electronically stored medical information. The record of any change or deletion shall include the identity of the person who accessed and changed the medical information, the date and time the medical information was accessed, and the change that was made to the medical information. This bill provides that a patient's right to access or receive a copy of his or her electronic medical records upon request shall be consistent with current applicable state and federal laws governing patient access to, and the use and disclosures of, medical information. This bill provides that the above provisions apply to an "electronic medical record" or "electronic health record" CONTINUED SB 850 Page 4 that meets the definition of "electronic health record," as defined. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 9/7/11) Consumer Attorneys of California (source) California Association of Health Underwriters Consumer Federation of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office: Conflicting records and records with missing information make it impossible for a healthcare provider to adequately evaluate and treat a patient and can have egregious consequences. Preserving the integrity and accuracy of electronic health records is crucial to reducing the occurrence of medical errors. Keeping complete and accurate records has genuine health and safety implications on a patient's well-being and quality of life. SB 850 would ensure the accuracy and integrity and efficiency of electronic health records in order to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing medical errors. Current law has failed to assure that EHR systems protect the integrity of a patient's medical records. In some situations, health care providers have taken advantage of design flaws to cover-up errors by modifying or deleting earlier entries. At Stanford Hospital, doctors failed to treat a patient who suffered from complications following a surgery; and as a result, she died. The patient's surviving family members had to request records from Stanford six times only to be told the information did not exist. But further investigations revealed that many records were not produced because of a technicality and because several records were destroyed after the error was made and the patient had died. In other situations, patients have received conflicting records when requesting their records from CONTINUED SB 850 Page 5 their health care provider. In Northern California, a patient had requested his records three times because there was no record of a particular visit to a doctor. It wasn't until the third request that this visit was reflected in his records, with no explanation as to why the record was initially missing. The Consumer Attorneys of California writes: Deletions and modifications of a record put a patient's safety at risk whether intentional or unintentional. Systems must be put into place to ensure that a patient's record accurately reflects the patient's health history and medical treatment in order to provide the quality care to a patient in the future. A simple inadvertent mistake, such as deleting a patient's allergic reactions, can have detrimental effects in the future. SB 850 increases the level of accountability in the electronic storage and maintenance process. Several healthcare providers have pioneered this effort by implementing these safeguards on their own, and they can be easily accomplished. Providers like Kaiser and the Veteran's Administration (VA) Medical Centers are among the largest EHR systems in the nation and have already provided such patient protections. This change in law will ensure that there is always a clear record of treatment received by the patient, and that vital information does not go missing. In so doing, SB 850 helps to ensure the accuracy and integrity of electronic health records thus contributing to the ultimate goal of reducing medical errors. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-18, 9/7/11 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, CONTINUED SB 850 Page 6 Portantino, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jones, Knight, Logue, Morrell, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Valadao, Wagner NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Furutani, Gorell, Mansoor RJG:nl 9/8/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED