STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2901

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1957

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1957, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH CARE INFORMATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that persons and entities governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), who use or disclose individually identifiable health information in a manner that is consistent with HIPAA regulations, shall be deemed to be in compliance with Hawaii's privacy laws and rules.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor; Department of Health; AlohaCare; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Medical Association; Hawaii Health Information Exchange; Hawaii Chapter, American Physical Therapy Association; HMSA; Hawaii Association of Health Plans; Hawaii Health Information Corporation; and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that there are approximately fifty statutory references to privacy, which are difficult for providers of care to understand and use.  As HIPAA is considered to be the standard in the area of health care privacy, hinging compliance with state laws upon compliance with HIPAA will ensure that appropriate privacy protections are retained while facilitating the exchange of clinical information by providers through the Hawaii Health Information Exchange, thereby improving the quality of care for patients.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1957, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1957, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair