House Bill hb1219c1
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1219
By the Council for Healthy Communities and Representatives
Bowen, Murman, Arza, Kilmer and Sobel
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to health care; creating the
3 "Patient Safety Improvement Act"; providing
4 legislative intent and definitions; creating
5 the Florida Patient Safety Center; providing
6 for location and duties of the center;
7 requiring identifying information in medical
8 patient records to remain confidential as
9 provided by law; providing an effective date.
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11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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13 Section 1. Patient safety improvement.--
14 (1) SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the
15 "Patient Safety Improvement Act."
16 (2) INTENT.--It is the intent of the Legislature to
17 establish a statewide, academically based center that will
18 serve as the designated resource for patient-safety-related
19 research, education, and policy information for the people and
20 institutions of Florida.
21 (3) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section:
22 (a) "Center" means the Florida Center for Patient
23 Safety.
24 (b) "Health care provider" means any physician, nurse,
25 pharmacist, occupational therapist, physical therapist,
26 hospital, or other institution, organization, or person that
27 furnishes health care services and is licensed or otherwise
28 authorized to practice or provide health care services in the
29 state.
30 (c) "Nonidentifying patient safety data" means patient
31 safety data that are presented in a form and manner that
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1 prevents the identification of the health care provider or
2 patient.
3 (d) "Patient safety data" means:
4 1. Any data, reports, records, memoranda, analyses, or
5 other quality improvement processes of patient safety events
6 which are:
7 a. Collected or developed by a health care provider;
8 b. Reported to a patient safety organization or the
9 State Patient Safety Database;
10 c. Contained in or collected by a patient safety
11 organization or the State Patient Safety Database;
12 d. Requested by a patient safety organization for the
13 purposes of monitoring, researching, or improving patient
14 safety; or
15 e. Reported to a health care provider by a patient
16 safety organization to assist with quality improvement and
17 patient safety effectiveness.
18 2. Any information related to corrective actions taken
19 in response to patient safety events listed in subparagraph 1.
20 (e) "Patient safety event" means an event over which a
21 health care provider could exercise control and which is
22 associated in whole or in part with medical intervention,
23 rather than the condition for which such intervention
24 occurred, and which could result in patient injury or death or
25 any other adverse incident as defined in s. 395.0197, Florida
26 Statutes.
27 (f) "Patient safety organization" means a public or
28 private organization that does all of the following:
29 1. Collects and analyzes data or information about
30 patient safety.
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1 2. Reports nonidentifying patient safety data to the
2 State Patient Safety Database.
3 3. Provides direct feedback of patient safety data to
4 health care providers.
5 (4) FLORIDA CENTER FOR PATIENT SAFETY.--
6 (a) There is created the Florida Center for Patient
7 Safety at the Health Science Center of the University of South
8 Florida in Tampa and the College of Medicine at the Florida
9 State University in Tallahassee to carry out the duties
10 described in this section. The center shall be
11 administratively housed and located at the Health Science
12 Center of the University of South Florida in Tampa.
13 (b) The center is authorized to:
14 1. Coordinate public and private resources to conduct
15 and support research in and demonstrations and evaluations of
16 patient safety.
17 2. Conduct and support research on effective ways to
18 improve and enhance patient safety and participate in the
19 dissemination of the information that is derived from such
20 research to health care providers in training and in practice,
21 health care institutions, patients and their families, and
22 policymakers.
23 3. Evaluate methods for identifying and promoting
24 patient safety programs.
25 4. Support dissemination and communication activities
26 to improve and enhance patient safety.
27 5. Design, conduct, and coordinate studies and surveys
28 to assess aspects of patient safety, including, but not
29 limited to, various clinical, social, and economic outcome or
30 process measures.
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1 6. Develop and test measures and methods for
2 evaluating and enhancing patient safety and promote the use of
3 such measures and methods in practice.
4 7. Provide technical assistance and gather information
5 on the use of consumer and patient information, and report on
6 patient safety and the resulting effects of intervention
7 policies.
8 8. Consult with and develop partnerships, as
9 appropriate, with all segments of the health care industry,
10 including health care providers and health care consumers.
11 9. Establish a State Patient Safety Database to
12 collect, support, and coordinate the analysis of
13 nonidentifying patient safety data submitted voluntarily by
14 health care providers and patient safety organizations.
15 10. Disseminate information developed through analysis
16 of the State Patient Safety Database concerning the existence
17 and causes of practices that affect patient safety, findings
18 and conclusions regarding patient safety events, outcome
19 measures, and evidence-based recommendations to improve
20 patient safety.
21 (c) The center shall establish a voluntary process
22 which shall include a standardized format to enable health
23 care providers or patient safety organizations to report
24 nonidentifying patient safety data. In carrying out its
25 responsibilities under this paragraph, the center shall
26 consult with and solicit and consider recommendations from
27 appropriate sectors of the health care community, including
28 health care providers, patient safety organizations, and other
29 relevant experts.
30 (5) CONFIDENTIALITY.--The center may have access to
31 all public records which are not otherwise exempt from s.
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1 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
2 However, in the event that any patient safety data collected,
3 managed, or analyzed by the center contain any individual,
4 identifying information relating to patients or facilities,
5 such data shall be treated the same as all other data pursuant
6 to ss. 119.07, 395.0197, 395.3025, 405.03, 408.061, 456.057,
7 and 641.67, Florida Statutes, and any other provision of law
8 dealing with access to and confidentiality of medical patient
9 records and shall be used solely for the purposes of research
10 and the compilation of information for legislative,
11 regulatory, or other policy purposes as intended in this
12 section and as authorized and provided in chapter 405, Florida
13 Statutes.
14 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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