BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2260 (Wood) - Emergency medical services
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|Version: May 27, 2016 |Policy Vote: HEALTH 9 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2260 would require the state Emergency Medical
Services Authority to determine a single set of data elements to
be used by air ambulance providers to submit data to local
emergency medical services agencies.
Fiscal
Impact:
One-time costs of $130,000 over two years for development of
the required data elements, consultation with stakeholders,
and adoption of regulations by the Emergency Medical Services
Authority (General Fund).
Potential one-time costs of about $500,000 for information
technology system changes, if the Emergency Medical Services
Authority adopts set of data elements that would require
modification of its information technology systems used to
accept data from local emergency medical services authorities
and EMS providers (General Fund). Whether or not the Authority
will incur significant information technology costs will
depend on the specifics of the data elements that are
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developed through the required process.
Unknown reimbursable mandate costs to the state from local
emergency medical services agencies who would be required to
upgrade their electronic record systems to comply with the
data standards adopted by the Emergency Medical Services
Authority under the bill (General Fund). Depending on the data
elements adopted by the Authority, local agencies may need to
make significant upgrades to their electronic record systems
to accept the data reported by EMS providers. Depending on the
size of the local agency, those costs could be in the tens of
thousands for a small agency to over $1 million for a large
agency. If significant upgrades are required, those agencies
could file a mandate claim with the state.
Background: Under current law, the Emergency Medical Services Authority is
required to develop planning guidelines for emergency medical
services, including training requirements for emergency medical
service personnel.
Current law authorizes counties to develop emergency medical
services programs and designate a Local Emergency Medical
Services Agency to oversee the local system. Current law
requires emergency medical services providers to report data to
their Local Emergency Medical Services Agency, following
specified requirements.
Proposed Law:
AB 2260 would require the state Emergency Medical Services
Authority to determine a single set of data elements to be used
by air ambulance providers to submit data to local emergency
medical services agencies.
Specific provisions of the bill would:
Require the Authority to determine a single set of data
elements and formatting for air ambulances to submit to local
emergency medical services agencies, by January 1, 2018;
Require the Authority to convene stakeholders regarding the
data elements and formatting;
Require the data elements and formatting to be compatible with
both the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) and the
California EMS Information Sharing System (CEMSIS);
Prohibit the Authority from requiring an air ambulance
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provider to use a specific electronic health record system;
Require air ambulance providers to submit data directly to the
Authority, upon request;
Prohibit local emergency medical services agencies from
requiring additional data from air ambulance providers.
Related
Legislation:
AB 1129 (Burke, Statutes of 2015) requires emergency medical
services providers to use an electronic system compatible with
NEMSIS and CEMSIS when reporting data to local emergency
medical services agencies.
AB 1621 (Lowenthal, 2014) would have required the Emergency
Medical Services Authority to adopt a single, statewide
standard for the collection of data relating to prehospital
care and would have required local emergency medical services
authorities to submit data to the authority using the
standard. That bill was held on this committee's Suspense
File.
Staff
Comments: This bill is not keyed as imposing a mandate on local
governments. However, the Emergency Medical Services Authority
has statutory authority to develop planning and implementation
guidelines for the state's emergency medical services system. To
the extent that the Authority adopts the required data elements
and formatting through the regulatory process and requires EMS
providers to use those data elements to report to local
emergency medical services authorities, local agencies may face
information technology costs to upgrade their existing systems.
Local agencies that experience significant costs to do so are
likely to file a reimbursable mandate claim with the Commission
on State Mandates.
Under current law, EMS providers are required to use electronic
health record systems that are compliant with state and national
standards. The Emergency Medical Services Authority is in the
process of working with stakeholders to develop policies and
recommendations to improve EMS data collection for all types of
EMS services.
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