STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2224

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2227

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2227 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROVIDER ORDERS FOR LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Increase access to provider orders for life-sustaining treatment by updating references from "physician orders for life-sustaining treatment" to "provider orders for life-sustaining treatment" throughout chapter 327K, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (2)  Expand health care provider signatory authority to include advanced practice registered nurses; and

     (3)  Correct inconsistencies over terms used to describe who may sign a provider order for life-sustaining treatment form on behalf of a patient.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Aging, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii State Center for Nursing, The Queen's Health Systems, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Kokua Mau, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, Hawaii Pacific Health, Hospice Hawaii, and several individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the use of provider orders for life-sustaining treatment, commonly referred to as POLST, is a holistic method of planning for end-of-life care with a specific set of medical orders to ensure that patients' wishes are honored.  Your Committee further finds that expanding signatory authority to include advanced practice registered nurses will promote efficiency, assist with a timely completion of provider orders for life-sustaining treatment for patients, and expand access to health care professionals who may sign provider orders for life-sustaining treatment, which will be highly beneficial for individuals living in rural areas and neighbor islands.

     Your Committee notes that the intent of this measure is to encourage meaningful dialogue between patients, or their designated surrogates, and health care providers.

     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. 2227 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

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

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair