BILL NUMBER: AB 508	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cristina Garcia

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

   An act to add Section 137.5 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to public health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 508, as introduced, Cristina Garcia. Public health: maternal
care.
   Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and
sets forth its powers and duties, as specified. Existing law
requires the State Department of Public Health to develop a
coordinated state strategy for addressing the health-related needs of
women, including implementation of goals and objectives for women's
health.
   This bill would establish within the State Department of Public
Health, the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative. The bill
would require the collaborative to establish a statewide system for
purposes of collecting and maintaining data related to, among other
things, pregnancy-related maternal deaths. The bill would require any
hospital in this state that provides obstetrical services to provide
to the department, on a monthly basis, information relating to
maternal mortality, as specified.
   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 137.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   137.5.  (a) There is hereby established within the State
Department of Public Health, the California Maternal Quality Care
Collaborative, for purposes of advancing California maternity care
through data-driven quality improvement.
   (b) The collaborative shall do all of the following:
   (1) Establish and maintain a statewide, sustainable,
collaborative, evidence-based, and data-driven quality improvement
system.
   (2) Provide leadership and tools for the achievement of
documentable and continuous improvements in maternity outcomes and a
reduction in disparities of care processes and outcomes.
   (3) Engage multiple stakeholders and groups, including, but not
limited to, clinicians, women, communities, insurers, researchers,
organizations, and public policymakers, for purposes of working
together to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes in this
state.
   (4) Maintain and analyze data provided by hospitals pursuant to
subdivision (c).
   (c) (1) Any hospital in this state that provides obstetrical
services shall report to the department, on a monthly basis, data
relating to its provision of obstetrical services, including, but not
limited to, information on pregnancy-related maternal deaths and
rates of obstetric hemorrhage or infection, and recommendations
relating to maternal mortality prevention.
   (2) The monthly report required pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall
be provided no later than 45 days following the end of the month for
which the data applies and is required.
   (d) The department shall be provided funding for purposes of
adequately staffing the collaborative.
   (e) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
have the following meanings:
   (1) "Collaborative" means the California Maternal Quality Care
Collaborative.
   (2) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health.
   (3) "Hospital" means a general acute care hospital, as defined in
Section 1250, that provides obstetrical services.