BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 204
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 204 (Corbett)
As Amended June 10, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
HEALTH 13-5 BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 8-4
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|Ayes:|Pan, Ammiano, Bonilla, |Ayes:|Bonilla, Bocanegra, |
| |Bonta, Chesbro, Gomez, | |Campos, Dickinson, |
| |Gonzalez, | |Eggman, Gordon, Skinner, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, | |Ting |
| |Lowenthal, Nazarian, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, | | |
| |Wieckowski | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Maienschein, Ch�vez, |Nays:|Jones, Hagman, |
| |Mansoor, Patterson, | |Maienschein, Wilk |
| |Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, | | |
| |Bradford, | | |
| |Ian Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Lowenthal | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, | | |
| |Linder, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Board of Pharmacy (BOP) to survey
pharmacists and electronic health record (EHR) vendors to
determine utilization of standardized prescription directions
for use adopted pursuant to BOP regulations. Specifically, this
bill :
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1)Requires the BOP survey pharmacists to collect data on whether
and how often pharmacists utilize standardized directions for
use, challenges or barriers for use, and other directions used
by pharmacists.
2)Requires the BOP to conduct a survey of vendors that provide
EHRs to pharmacies and prescribers to determine the type of
directions for use included in the software. Requires the
survey to include, but not be limited to, whether standardized
directions for use are used in the software, challenges or
barriers for use, and other directions used by the vendor.
3)Specifies the surveys to be conducted with other surveys
performed during routine course of business. Requires the BOP
to report the finding of the surveys at the July 2016 BOP
meeting, and publish the findings on its Internet Web site.
4)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2020.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, $50,000 in estimated costs to the BOP to contract for
the mandated surveys.
COMMENTS : According to the author, although the BOP adopted
regulations to develop a patient-centered prescription label and
standardized directions for use in 2010, the BOP does not know
how many doctors are using these standardized directions, nor do
they have any method for determining whether or not pharmacies
are utilizing them. The BOP also does not know and has no
method for determining if the vendors of EHRs are using the
standardized directions for use in the products that they market
to prescribers and pharmacies. The author further states that
the BOP should determine if the standardized directions for use
are being utilized and what the barriers are to using the
standardized directions in prescriptions and EHRs for
prescribers and pharmacists. These surveys will provide the BOP
with the necessary data to determine how to better ensure the
use of this important aspect of the patient-centered
regulations.
Medication Errors. SCR 49 (Speier), Resolution Chapter 123,
Statutes of 2005, established the Medication Errors Panel
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(Panel) which published a report in March 2007 entitled,
Prescription for Improving Patient Safety: Addressing
Medication Errors. The report listed six general goals to
reduce medication errors. Under each goal were recommendations
(12 in all) and methods to accomplish each recommendation. The
Panel report states that "the information that consumers need to
know about their medication is often complex and may include
unfamiliar language or concepts. Expecting a consumer to retain
all the pertinent knowledge from a brief verbal encounter may
not be reasonable in many instances." Although the Panel did
not come to consensus on the most important subset of consumers
that are at "high risk" for medication errors, it did
acknowledge that there are a variety of factors which may
increase an individual's risk for experiencing a medication
error. The Panel stated that these factors must be taken into
consideration in the development of any consumer education
efforts.
In response to the panel report, SB 472 (Corbett), Chapter 470,
Statutes of 2007, established the California Patient Medication
Safety Act, which required the BOP to promulgate regulations
that require a standardized, patient-centered prescription drug
label on all prescription medicine dispensed to patients. In an
effort to create a consumer friendly drug label, the BOP
elicited feedback from consumers between May 2008 and November
2009, with an open-ended prescription label survey which was
distributed at public outreach events. After numerous meetings,
BOP adopted regulations in 2010 to create a standardized,
patient-centered prescription drug label, which included the
standardized directions for use.
The California Pan Ethnic Health Network, sponsor of this bill,
states that a large percentage of patients misunderstand dosage
instructions on their labels. Simple, explicit, and specific
instructions can help alleviate patients' misunderstanding.
Pursuant to previous legislation, the BOP Pharmacy adopted
standardized instruction, but there is no data about whether
pharmacies are actually using the instructions.
There is no opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Dharia McGrew / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
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FN: 0004228