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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2575 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO MANDATORY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that it is critical to understand the dynamic of coercion surrounding adult victims of sex trafficking or promoting prostitution in the first degree and labor trafficking. According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, in 2005, twenty-eight per cent of the of twenty-one victims of human trafficking from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta received medical care while in their trafficker's control. This statistic illustrates the fact that encounters in the health care setting may offer opportunities for identifying trafficking victims.
The legislature also finds that health care providers have seen cases in hospitals where victims have been released into the care of the victim's trafficker. Due to restrictions under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, P.L. 104-191, health care professionals find it difficult to notify the proper authorities to ensure these individuals receive the assistance they need.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Allow medical personnel to report suspicious wounds to authorities if the wounds appear to be associated with human or labor trafficking; and
(2) Subject a person who reports wounds to physician-patient privilege regarding patient communications for the diagnosis of the treatment of the patient but not regarding the physician's observations of the patient.
SECTION 2. Section 453-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§453-14 Duty of physician, osteopathic physician, surgeon, hospital, clinic, etc., to report wounds. (a) Every physician, osteopathic physician, physician assistant, and surgeon attending or treating a case of knife wound, bullet wound, gunshot wound, powder burn, or any injury that would seriously maim, produce death, or has rendered the injured person unconscious caused by the use of violence or sustained in a suspicious or unusual manner or in motor vehicle collisions resulting in serious injury or death, or, whenever the case is treated in a hospital, clinic, or other institution, the manager, superintendent, or person in charge thereof, shall report the case or provide requested information to the chief of police of the county within which the person was attended or treated, giving the name of the injured person, description of the nature, type, and extent of the injury, together with other pertinent information that may be of use to the chief of police.
(b) Every physician, osteopathic physician, physician assistant, and surgeon attending or treating an injury reasonably believed to have been caused by the use of violence or sustained in a suspicious or unusual manner, including injuries that result from labor trafficking or prostitution, may report the case or provide requested information to the chief of police of the county within which the person was attended or treated, giving the name of the injured person, description of the nature, type, and extent of the injury, together with other pertinent information that may be of use to the chief of police.
(c) As used herein[, the term
"chief of police"]:
"Chief of police" means the chief of police of each county and any of the chief's authorized subordinates.
"Prostitution" has the same meaning as provided in section 712-1200.
"Victim" has the same meaning as provided in section 707‑780.
[(b)] (d) This section shall not
apply to wounds, burns, or injuries received by a member of the armed forces of
the United States or of the State while engaged in the actual performance of
duty.
(e) A person who makes a report called for under this section shall be subject to the physician-patient privilege under section 626-1, rule 504, with regard to confidential communications made by the patient for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of that patient, but shall not apply to testimony about the physician's observations of the patient.
[(c)] (f) Any person who fails
to make the report called for herein within twenty-four hours after the
attendance or treatment shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $500."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Report Title:
Labor Trafficking; Prostitution; Authority to Report
Description:
Allows certain medical personnel to report certain injuries, including injuries that result from labor trafficking or prostitution. Subjects a person who reports wounds to physician-patient privilege regarding patient communications for the diagnosis or treatment of the patient but not regarding physician's observations of patient. (SD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.