BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 658
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 1, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 658 (Calderon) - As Amended:  April 22, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                               
          JudiciaryVote:10-0

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

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Applies the requirements of the Confidentiality of Medical  
            Information Act (CMIA) to include any business offering  
            software, hardware, or applications designed to maintain  
            medical information in order to make the information available  
            to an individual or health care provider, as specified.

          2)Stipulates that the requirement in (1) shall not be construed  
            to make such a business a health care provider of health care  
            services for purposes of any other law.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Since violations of the CMIA that result in economic loss or  
          personal injury to the patient are punishable as misdemeanors,  
          there could be minor non-reimbursable costs to local governments  
          for enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . The CMIA prohibits a health care provider,  
            health care service plan, or medical contractor from  
            sharing or disclosing a person's medical information  
            without that person's consent.  "Medical information" for  
            purposes of the CMIA is defined to include "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 the a patient's medical  








                                                                  AB 658
                                                                  Page  2

            history, mental or physical condition, or treatment."

           2)Purpose  . According to the author, AB 658 closes a loophole  
            by applying the existing provisions of the CMIA "to the  
            newest platform for commercial vendors who offer storage,  
            maintenance and sharing of sensitive medical information,  
            which are mobile application software services."

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081