STAND. COM. REP. 1079

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1356

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1356, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REGISTRATION OF VITAL STATISTICS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to:

(1) Require the reporting of fetal deaths and intentional terminations of pregnancy;

(2) Amend the definition of "fetal death";

(3) Amend the process of registering death events; and

(4) Allow a patient's next of kin to access the patient's medical records.

The Department of Health, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente, and Hawaii Medical Association testified in support of this measure. Dodo Mortuary, Inc., and the Hawaii Funeral Directors Association opposed this measure. The Hawaii Medical Service Association provided comments.

 

Your Committee finds that death registration process needs to be updated to accommodate the transition from a paper-based system to an electronic system. While funeral directors would like the process to be streamlined, they are concerned about the methods in which deaths will be registered.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Removing the provision allowing a patient's next of kin to access the patient's medical records;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2004, to facilitate further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style and clarity.

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 S.B. No. 1356, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1356, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

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

 

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair