BILL NUMBER: AB 1731 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 6, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Block
FEBRUARY 16, 2012
An act to add Article 6.6 (commencing with Section 124121) to
Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1731, as amended, Block. Newborn screening program: critical
congenital heart disease.
Existing law provides for the Newborn and Infant Hearing
Screening, Tracking, and Intervention program, under which general
acute care hospitals with licensed perinatal services, as specified,
are required to administer to newborns a hearing screening test for
the identification of hearing loss, as prescribed, using protocols
developed by the State Department of Health Care Services, or its
designee.
This bill would , beginning July 1, 2013, require a
general acute care hospitals with
hospital that has a licensed perinatal services
service to offer to parents of a newborn, prior
to discharge, a pulse oximetry test for the identification of
critical congenital heart disease (CCHD), using protocols approved by
the department or its designee , as specified.
This bill would require the department to phase in
implementation of the requirement to offer CCHD screening on or after
July 1, 2013, and require 100% participation by these hospitals by
December 31, 2016. This bill would require these hospitals
to develop a CCHD screening program, as prescribed. This
bill would also provide that the department may designate
responsibilities to the State Department of Public Health that are
consistent with existing responsibilities set forth for the State
Department of Public Health in other state newborn screening
programs.
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. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Congenital heart disease affects about seven to nine of every
1,000 live births in the United States and is the most common cause
of death in the first year of life, with defects accounting for 3
percent of all infant deaths and more than 40 percent of all deaths
due to congenital malformations.
(b) Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) is a group of defects
that cause severe and life-threatening symptoms and require
intervention within the first days or first year of life.
(c) Current methods for detecting CCHD generally include prenatal
ultrasound screening and careful and repeated clinical examinations.
(d) CCHD is often missed during the routine clinical exam that
generally is scheduled prior to a newborn's discharge, and many cases
of CCHD are also missed during discharge and postdischarge clinical
exams.
(e) Fetal ultrasound screening programs improve detection of major
congenital heart defects. However, prenatal diagnosis alone picks up
less than one-half of all cases.
(f) Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive test that estimates the
percentage of hemoglobin in blood that is saturated with oxygen.
(g) Virtually all hospitals, including small hospitals, frequently
use pulse oximetry as a standard of care in their newborn nurseries.
(h) Many newborn lives could potentially be saved by earlier
detection and treatment of CCHD if hospitals were required to perform
this simple, noninvasive newborn screening method.
SEC. 2. Article 6.6 (commencing with Section 124121) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 6.6. Newborn Critical Congenital Heart Disease
Screening Program
124121. For purposes of this article, "CCHD" means critical
congenital heart disease.
124122. (a) (1) A Beginning July 1, 2013,
a general acute care hospital with
that has a licensed perinatal services
service shall offer to parents of a newborn, prior to
discharge, a pulse oximetry test for the identification of CCHD,
using protocols approved by the State Department of Health Care
Services. The
( 2) The protocols for
testing for CCHD shall be consistent with those established by the
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
department shall begin phasing in implementation of the requirement
to offer CCHD screening on or after July 1, 2013, and a 100-percent
participation rate shall be achieved by 2016.
(2)
( 3) A hospital described in paragraph (1)
shall be responsible for developing a screening program that provides
competent CCHD screening, utilizes appropriate staff and equipment
for administering the testing, completes the testing prior to the
newborn's discharge from a newborn nursery unit, refers infants with
abnormal screening results for appropriate care, maintains and
reports data as required by the department, and provides physician
and family-parent education.
(b) A pulse oximetry test provided for pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be performed by a licensed physician, licensed registered
nurse, or an appropriately trained individual who is supervised in
the performance of the test by a licensed health care professional.
(c) This section shall not apply to a newborn whose parent or
guardian objects to the test on the grounds that the test is in
violation of his or her beliefs.
(d) The State Department of Health Care Services may designate
responsibilities under this article to the State Department of Public
Health that are consistent with existing responsibilities set forth
for the State Department of Public Health in other state newborn
screening programs.