BILL NUMBER: AB 444	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gipson
   (Coauthor: Senator Pan)

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

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


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 444, as introduced, Gipson. Health facilities: epidural
connectors.
   Existing law, as of January 1, 2016, prohibits a health facility,
as defined, from using an epidural connector that would fit into a
connector 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. Existing law also requires a
health facility to develop a patient safety plan and, as of January
1, 2016, requires that plan to include measures to prevent adverse
events associated with misconnecting epidural lines. Violation of
these provisions is a misdemeanor.
   This bill would make these provisions operative as of January 1,
2017.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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 January 1,  2016,   2017,
 a health facility, as defined in subdivision (a), (b), (c), or
(f) of Section 1250, is prohibited from using an epidural connector
that would fit into a connector 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 January 1, 2016, a health facility, as defined in
subdivision (a), (b), (c), or (f) of Section 1250, is prohibited from
using an intravenous connector or an enteral feeding connector that
would fit into a connector 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 connectors 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 connectors upon the operative
date of subdivision (b) and as to intravenous and enteral connectors
upon the operative date of subdivision (c).