Chapter 284
2019 -- S 0676 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/15/2019

A N   A C T
RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

Introduced By: Senator Elizabeth A. Crowley
Date Introduced: March 21, 2019

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
     SECTION 1. Sections 23-1-18 and 23-1-44 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-1 entitled
"Department of Health" are hereby amended to read as follows:
     23-1-18. Power to provide rules and regulations in specific areas.
     Without limiting the generality of § 23-1-17, the rules and regulations relating to
sanitation and health provided for by § 23-1-17 may include:
     (1) Provisions fixing responsibilities of owners, operators, and occupants of land or
buildings for the sanitary condition, maintenance, use, and occupancy of the land and buildings.
     (2) Minimum standards with respect to the reporting of any disease and the quarantine of
persons affected by that disease.
     (3) Minimum standards and conditions for the location, construction, and sanitary quality
of all drinking water supplies.
     (4) Minimum standards for facilities and sanitary conditions for schools and the health
care for school children.
     (5) Minimum standards with respect to the maintenance and operation of food businesses.
     (6) Minimum standards of air quality consistent with human health.
     (7) Minimum standards consistent with human health for the quality of the waters of the
state.
     (8) Minimum standards consistent with human health for the quality of public drinking
water.
     (9) Minimum standards for immunization and testing for communicable diseases,
including, but not limited to, tuberculosis, of employees, children, and students at any child day-
care center, family day-care home, private nursery school, any other regular program providing
educational services to preschool-aged children, public or private school, college, or university.
     (10) Provisions requiring the reporting of immunization status and any other relevant
information that the director determines appropriate for all persons under the age of eighteen (18)
years for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a childhood an immunization registry,;
provided, however, that the information collected by the department for the immunization registry
will only include data elements nationally endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to meet standards for immunization information systems, and that all personally
identifiable information obtained pursuant to this section shall be subject to the provisions of
chapter 37.3 of title 5 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub.
L. No. 104-191 (HIPAA), as amended. Any person may opt out of and choose to remove his or
her information from the immunization registry by contacting the department directly by phone or
by submitting a form online which that shall be made available on the department's website.
     (11) Provisions requiring the reporting of inventories and sales of drugs, devices, and
other products potentially related to the outbreak of disease. All information acquired under this
subsection by the department of health is confidential and not subject to public access pursuant to
chapter 2 of title 38.
     23-1-44. Routine childhood and adult immunization vaccines.
     (a) The department of health shall include in the department's immunization program
those vaccines for routine childhood immunization as recommended by the Advisory Committee
for Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and for routine adult
influenza immunization as recommended by the ACIP, to the extent permitted by available funds.
The childhood immunization program includes administrative and quality assurance services and
KIDSNET the Rhode Island Child and Adult Immunization Registry (RICAIR), a confidential,
computerized child health information system that is used to manage statewide immunizations, as
well as other public health preventive services, for all children persons in Rhode Island from birth
through age 18.
     (b) The director of the department of health shall appoint an advisory committee that will
be convened after the ACIP makes a recommendation regarding adult immunization. The
committee will review the ACIP recommendations for the state,; assess the vaccine cost and
feasibility,; and advise the director of health and the office of the health insurance commissioner
regarding insurers and providers acting on the ACIP adult immunization recommendation. All
recommendations will be posted on the department of health website. The advisory committee
membership shall include, but not be limited to, a primary care provider, pharmacist,
representatives of the nursing home industry, the home health care healthcare industry and major
insurers.
     (c) For the purpose of protecting patients' information, all personally-identifiable
information obtained pursuant to this section shall be subject to the privacy protections of chapter
37.3 of title 5 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No.
104-191 (HIPAA), as amended.
     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC001604/SUB A/4
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