BILL NUMBER: AB 503	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 23, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Rodriguez

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

   An act to add Section 1797.122 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to emergency medical services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 503, as amended, Rodriguez. Emergency medical services.
   Existing law requires the Emergency Medical Services Authority to
develop planning and implementation guidelines for emergency medical
services (EMS) systems that address several components, including,
but not limited to, manpower and training, communications,
transportation, and assessment of hospitals and critical care
centers.
   This bill would authorize a health facility, as defined, to
release patient-identifiable medical  inform a prehospital
emergency medical services   information to a defined
EMS  provider  , a local EMS agency, and the authority,
 to the extent specific data elements are requested for quality
assessment and improvement purposes.  The bill would also require
the authority to develop minimum standards for the implementation of
this data collection. 
   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.    It is the intent of the Legislature to
encourage data sharing between emergency medical services providers
and hospitals in order to improve system effectiveness, quality of
care, and the impact of emergency medical services on death and
disability. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 1797.122
is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
   1797.122.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a health facility as
defined in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 1250 may  , but
is not required to,  release patient-identifiable medical
information under the following circumstances:
   (1) To  a prehospital emergency medical services 
 an   EMS  provider  ,   
information regarding a patient who was  treated, or 
transported to the hospital by  ,  that  prehospital
emergency medical services   EMS  provider, to the
extent that specific data elements are requested for quality
assessment and improvement purposes.
   (2) To the  Emergency Medical Services Authority 
 authority  or the local  emergency medical
services   EMS  agency, to the extent that specific
data elements are requested for quality assessment and improvement
purposes.
   (b)  Each prehospital emergency medical services provider
and   An EMS provider,  local  emergency
medical services   EMS  agency, and the 
Emergency Medical Services Authority   authority 
shall request only those data elements that are minimally necessary
in compliance with Section 164.502 (b) and Section 164.514 (d) of
Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 
   (c) The authority shall develop minimum standards for the
implementation of data collection for system operation, patient
outcome, and performance quality improvement.  
   (d) For purposes of this section, "EMS provider" means an
organization employing an Emergency Medical Technician-I, Advanced
Emergency Medical Technician, or Emergency Medical
Technician-Paramedic for the delivery of emergency medical care to
the sick and injured at the scene of an emergency, during transport,
or during an interfacility transfer.