BILL NUMBER: AB 535 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 14, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ammiano
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to add Sections 1418.92 and 102336
102336 and 127286 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend
Section Sections 11174.5 and 11174.8 of
the Penal Code, relating to elder death review teams.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 535, as amended, Ammiano. Elder death review teams: information
requests.
This bill would require a long-term health care facility to report
the death of a resident of the facility who is 65 years of age or
older to the elder death review team of the county in which the death
occurred within 24 hours of the death. The bill would make violation
of this provision a class "B" violation. Because this bill would
create a new crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law allows a county to establish an interagency elder
death review team to assist local agencies in
identifying and reviewing suspicious elder deaths. Under existing
law, the team may request specified information for its review,
subject to prescribed confidentiality requirements.
This bill would make conforming changes to refer to elder
death review teams and would allow the
an elder death review team to request and obtain copies of
certificates of death from the local registrar of births and deaths,
subject to any fee requirements.
Under existing law, deaths are required to be registered with the
local registrar of births and deaths in the district in which the
death occurs. Existing law requires the State Department of Public
Health to enforce the laws pertaining to vital records, including
certificates of death. Existing law requires the department to
implement an Internet-based electronic death registration system.
This bill would authorize the chair, cochair, or an agent of the
chair or cochair, of a county elder death review team to
participate in the Internet-based electronic death registration
system to access specified information.
Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses
and regulates health facilities, including long-term health care
facilities. The Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of
1973 imposes various requirements on long-term health facilities.
Violation of these provisions is punishable through administrative
penalties. Willful obstruction of the enforcement of the provisions
is a misdemeanor.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Under existing law health facilities, including skilled nursing
facilities, are required to file an annual report to the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development containing prescribed data.
This bill would require skilled nursing facilities, except for a
skilled nursing facility that is a distinct part of a general acute
care hospital, also to include within this report specified data on
persons who have died in the facility. The bill would require the
office to compile and make available this data to a requesting county
elder death review team and would allow the office, upon request of
the team, to provide additional information, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1418.92 is added to the
Health and Safety Code, to read:
1418.92. (a) A long-term health care facility shall report the
death of a resident of the facility who is 65 years of age or older
to the elder death review team of the county in which the death
occurred.
(b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall be made within 24
hours of the death of the resident and shall contain all of the
following information:
(1) Place of death.
(2) Time of death.
(3) Gender of decedent.
(c) Failure to comply with this section shall constitute a class
"B" violation.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 102336 is
added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
102336. Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code, the chair, cochair, or an agent of
the chair or cochair of a county elder death review team
may participate in the Internet-based electronic death registration
system established pursuant to Section 102778. Access to the
Internet-based electronic death data shall be exclusively for the
purpose of obtaining the following information:
(a) Place of death.
(b) Name, last name followed by first name.
(c) Date of death.
(d) Cause of death.
SEC. 2. Section 127286 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
127286. (a) A skilled nursing facility, as defined in subdivision
(c) of Section 1250, except for a skilled nursing facility that is a
distinct part of a general acute care hospital, shall include in the
annual report required pursuant to Section 127285 data on persons
who have died in the facility, including, but not limited to, the
date and time of death, age, and gender.
(b) The office shall compile and make available the data reported
pursuant to subdivision (a) by county and by facility upon the
request of a county interagency elder death team, as established in
Section 11174.5 of the Penal Code.
(c) The office may also include census and utilization information
relating to the facilities, including, but not limited to, whether
the facility offered a hospice program or another specialized
program, such as those for Alzheimer's disease.
SEC. 3. Section 11174.5 of the Penal
Code is amended to read:
11174.5. (a) Each county may establish an interagency elder death
review team to assist local agencies in identifying and
reviewing suspicious elder deaths and facilitating communication
among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and
agencies involved in elder abuse or neglect cases.
(b) Each county may develop a protocol that may be used as a
guideline by persons performing autopsies on elder adults to assist
coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in the
identification of elder abuse, in the determination of whether elder
abuse or neglect contributed to death or whether elder abuse or
neglect had occurred prior to but was not the actual cause of death,
and in the proper written reporting procedures for elder abuse or
neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of death.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 11174.8 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
11174.8. (a) Each organization represented on an elder death
review team may share with other members of the team information in
its possession concerning the decedent who is the subject of the
review or any person who was in contact with the decedent and any
other information deemed by the organization to be pertinent to the
review. Any information shared by an organization with other members
of a team is confidential. The intent of this subdivision is to
permit the disclosure to members of the team of any information
deemed confidential, privileged, or prohibited from disclosure by any
other provision of law.
(b) (1) Written and oral information may be disclosed to an elder
death review team established pursuant to this section. The team may
make a request in writing for the information sought and any person
with information of the kind described in paragraph (3) may rely on
the request in determining whether information may be disclosed to
the team.
(2) No individual or agency that has information governed by this
subdivision shall be required to disclose information. The intent of
this subdivision is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information
by the individual or agency that has the information.
(3) The following information may be disclosed pursuant to this
subdivision:
(A) Notwithstanding Section 56.10 of the Civil Code, medical
information.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, mental health information.
(C) Notwithstanding Section 15633.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, information from elder abuse reports and
investigations, except the identity of persons who have made reports,
which shall not be disclosed.
(D) State summary criminal history information, criminal offender
record information, and local summary criminal history information,
as defined in Sections 11075, 11105, and 13300.
(E) Notwithstanding Section 11163.2, information pertaining to
reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical
injuries inflicted by means of a firearm or of persons suffering
physical injury where the injury is a result of assaultive or abusive
conduct.
(F) Information provided to probation officers in the course of
the performance of their duties, including, but not limited to, the
duty to prepare reports pursuant to Section 1203.10, as well as the
information on which these reports are based.
(G) Notwithstanding Section 10825 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, records relating to in-home supportive services, unless
disclosure is prohibited by federal law.
(H) Electronic data from certificates of death from the local
registrar of births and deaths, subject to any fee requirements.
(c) Written and oral information may be disclosed under this
section notwithstanding Sections 2263, 2918, 4982, and 6068 of the
Business and Professions Code, the lawyer-client privilege protected
by Article 3 (commencing with Section 950) of Chapter 4 of Division 8
of the Evidence Code, the physician-patient privilege protected by
Article 6 (commencing with Section 990) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of
the Evidence Code, and the psychotherapist-patient privilege
protected by Article 7 (commencing with Section 1010) of Chapter 4 of
Division 8 of the Evidence Code.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.