BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1867
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 18, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     AB 1867 (Pan) - As Amended:  March 29, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              HealthVote:17-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill delays the implementation of a prohibition on 
          hospitals' use of certain connector devices for intravenous 
          (IV), epidural, and enteral feeding systems until January 1, 
          2016.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state fiscal impact.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . According to the author, hospitals and other 
            healthcare facilities depend on a variety of catheters, 
            tubing, and syringes to deliver medications and other 
            substances to patients through vascular, enteral feeding, 
            respiratory, and epidural delivery systems.  Because many 
            connectors are interchangeable, the potential exists for 
            serious medical errors if different systems are connected 
            mistakenly. 

            The author indicates an international effort led by the 
            International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is 
            underway to develop and implement standards for 
            non-interchangeable connectors.  Once the ISO process is 
            complete, according to the author, international standards 
            will be established to facilitate correct connections and 
            eliminate incompatible tubing misconnections.  The ISO process 
            is projected to be complete in mid-2014 and hospitals estimate 
            it will take 18 months to bring to market and install new 
            systems.









                                                                  AB 1867
                                                                  Page  2

           2)Prior Legislation  . SB 158 (Florez), Chapter 294, Statutes of 
            2008, addressed a number of patient safety issues, including a 
            requirement that, as of January 1, 2011, health facilities 
            must use separate unique connectors for IV, enteral feeding 
            and epidural connections to prevent adverse events associated 
            with misconnections.  

            AB 818 (Hernandez), Chapter 476, Statutes of 2009,  delayed 
            the effective dates in SB 158 (Florez) and established new 
            deadlines - January 1, 2013 for enteral feeding and IV 
            connections and January 1, 2014 for epidural connections or by 
            a period of time following the publication of new ISO design 
            standards.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081