BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1337|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1337
Author: Linder (R)
Amended: 7/16/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE: 8-0, 7/8/15
AYES: Hernandez, Nguyen, Hall, Monning, Nielsen, Pan, Roth,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mitchell
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Medical records: electronic delivery
SOURCE: Consumer Attorneys of California
DIGEST: This bill creates an authorization form for disclosure
of health information by medical providers, and requires
electronic medical records requested prior to the filing of any
action or appearance of a defendant in an action to be provided
electronically if requested in an electronic format, and if it
is readily producible in that format.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Requires, prior to the filing of any action or the appearance
of a defendant in an action, medical providers or employers,
as specified, to make all of the patient's records under his,
her or its custody or control available for inspection and
copying by the attorney at law or his or her representative,
promptly upon the presentation of a written authorization
signed by the patient or representative of the patient.
2)Describes as "medical providers" physician and surgeon,
dentist, registered nurse, dispensing optician, registered
physical therapist, podiatrist, licensed psychologist,
osteopathic physician and surgeon, chiropractor, clinical
laboratory bioanalyst, clinical laboratory technologist, or
pharmacist or pharmacy, duly licensed, or a licensed hospital.
3)Subjects the person or entity having custody or control of the
records to liability for all reasonable expenses, including
attorney's fees, incurred for failure to make the records
available, during business hours, within five days after the
presentation of the written authorization.
4)Requires reasonable costs, as defined, incurred in making
patient records available pursuant to existing law to be
charged against the person whose written authorization
required the availability of the records.
This bill:
1)Permits reasonable costs incurred under this bill to be
charged against the attorney who requested the records, not
the person who authorized the request.
2)Requires if the records are maintained electronically and if
the requesting party requests an electronic copy of such
information, the health care provider to provide the requested
medical records in the electronic form and format requested by
the requesting party, if it is readily producible in such form
and format; or, if not, in a readable electronic form and
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format as agreed to by the health care provider and the
requesting party.
3)Requires a medical provider to accept a signed and completed
authorization form for the disclosure of health information if
the medical provider determines that the form is valid,
printed in a typeface no smaller than 14-point type, and in
substantially the form specified in this bill.
Comments
1)Author's statement. According to the author, AB 1337 will
create a standardized medical records request form.
Currently, authorization forms vary widely between health care
facilities, depending on the provider, hospital or plan. The
process is very burdensome and the use of provider specific
forms results in delay in obtaining records. The patient or
their representative must contact the applicable health care
facility, obtain a specific form, have the client sign that
form, and then submit it to the health care facility. Often
times, this must be completed for each health care facility in
order to obtain a complete medical history.
Health care facilities also find this process burdensome, often
receiving a medical records request form that differs from their
own or that a patient's representative drafted themselves
resulting in a delay in processing the patient's health records
request. By creating a standardized form, both providers and
patients would be able to streamline their ability to access
medical records and lessen any chances for unneeded delays wasting
time and money.
Prior Legislation
AB 2059 (Muratsuchi, 2014) would have required a health care
provider to provide an electronic copy of an electronic medical
record or electronic health record, when an electronic copy is
requested, if the medical record exists in digital or electronic
format and can be delivered electronically. The bill also would
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have authorized the provider to charge feels for processing the
request. The bill was held on the Senate Floor.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/15)
Consumer Attorneys of California (source)
California Hospital Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Consumer Attorneys of California
is the sponsor of this bill and indicates that they have been
collectively working with the hospitals and providers to develop
a standardized Evidence Code medical request form that
hospitals, providers and patients can rely upon as an acceptable
form. A uniform record request procedure will help providers
and patients who seek medical records.
The California Hospital Association writes in support that
lawyers, physicians and hospitals make up their own forms today,
which leads to a lot of paperwork crossing in the mail, multiple
forms signed and delays in getting medical records to the
attorneys who requested them. Having one easily recognizable
form will help hospitals and physicians identify when a request
has been made.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
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Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth
Prepared by:Teri Boughton / HEALTH /
8/13/15 13:07:39
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