STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1652

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.R. No. 95
                                     H.D. 2




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which
was referred H.R. No. 95, H.D. 1, entitled:

     "HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS
     TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE ADVISABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF
     CREATING A DATA BANK WITH PROVIDER INFORMATION FOR ACCESS BY
     HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this resolution is to request the task force
established by Act 178, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, to study the
advisability and feasibility of creating a data bank with
provider information for access by health care consumers.

     The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and the Hawaii
Nurses' Association (HNA) testified in support of this
resolution.  The Insurance Commissioner of the Department of
Commerce and Consumer Affairs stated a willingness to participate
in the study requested by this resolution.  The Hawaii Medical
Association opposed this resolution, indicating its serious
reservations about the kinds of information that would be
included in a data bank, which could be extremely misleading as
to a physician's degree of competency or skill.

     HMSA testified that the selection of a health care provider
is an important decision for a consumer, but that in Hawaii,
there is no easily accessible source of information about the
level of skill, education, experiences, and other relevant
qualifications of health care providers.  HMSA stated that Hawaii

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1652
                                 Page 2

 
is one of only ten states that does not have some type of public
distribution of provider performance data.  HNA testified that
the resolution would allow the systematic review and development
of a bank of pertinent data for consumers that would reflect
privacy concerns.

     Your Committee has amended this resolution by making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style and
clarity.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to
this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose
of H.R. No. 95, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it
be referred to the Committee on Finance, in the form attached
hereto as H.R. No. 95, H.D. 2.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Consumer
                                   Protection and Commerce,



                                   ______________________________
                                   RON MENOR, Chair