2017 -- S 0407

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LC001309

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - THE RHODE ISLAND PATIENT SAFETY ACT

OF 2008

     Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, Lombardi, Nesselbush, and Archambault

     Date Introduced: March 02, 2017

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 23-17.21-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17.21 entitled "The

Rhode Island Patient Safety Act of 2008" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-17.21-4. Definitions.

     For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

     (a) "Department" means the Rhode Island department of health.

     (b) "Director" means the director of the Rhode Island department of health.

     (c) "Health care facility" means any corporation, limited liability company, facility, or

institution licensed by this state to provide health care or professional services, or an officer,

employee or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of his or her employment.

     (d) "Near misses" means circumstances in which a patient safety event is narrowly

averted.

     (e) "Patient safety activities" means: (1) efforts to improve patient safety and the quality

of health care delivery; (2) the collection and analysis of patient safety work product; (3) the

development and dissemination of information with respect to improving patient safety, such as

recommendations, protocols, or information regarding best practices; (4) the utilization of patient

safety work product for the purposes of encouraging a culture of safety and of providing feedback

and assistance to effectively minimize patient risk; (5) the maintenance of procedures to preserve

confidentiality with respect to patient safety work product; and (6) the provision of appropriate

security measures with respect to patient safety work product.

     (f) "Patient safety event" means those events as defined by the national quality forum,

institute of medicine, center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and as further defined

by the quality of care advisory committee, as established herein, and shall include near misses.

     (g) "Patient safety organization (PSO)" means any public or private organization certified

by the director, or component of any such organization, whose activity is to improve patient

safety and the quality of health care delivery for patients receiving care through the collection,

aggregation, analysis, investigation, and/or processing of medical or health care related

information submitted to it by reporting entities. A PSO shall not mean any agency or public

body as defined in subsection 38-2-2(i).

     (h) "Patient safety work product" means all reports, records, memoranda, analyses,

statements, root cause analyses, or and written or oral statements, that: (1) a health care facility or

provider prepares for the purpose of disclosing a patient safety event, or and is disclosed, to a

patient safety organization; (2) is received from a reporting entity, or is created or and analyzed

by a patient safety organization; or (3) directly or indirectly contains deliberations, analytical

process, recommendations, conclusions, or other communications of a patient safety organization

or and between a patient safety organization and health care providers or facilities.

     (i) "Identifiable patient safety work product" means patient safety work product that: (1)

is presented in a form and manner that allows the identification of any provider or reporting entity

that is a subject of the work product, or any providers or reporting entities that participate in

activities that are a subject of the work product; (2) constitutes individually identifiable health

information as that term is defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of

1996 and its implementing regulations (45 C.F.R. Parts 160-164); or (3) is presented in a form

and manner that allows the identification of an individual.

     (j) "Nonidentifiable patient safety work product" means patient safety work product that

is not identifiable patient safety work product as defined in subsection (h) herein.

     (k) "Reporting entities" means all hospitals, nursing facilities, and freestanding

ambulatory surgical centers licensed under chapter 23-17.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - THE RHODE ISLAND PATIENT SAFETY ACT

OF 2008

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     This act would amend the definition of "patient safety work product" to include certain

written or oral statements disclosed to a patient safety organization and analyzed by the same.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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