STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2339

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2397

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2397 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISCHARGE PLANNING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require hospitals to adopt and maintain discharge policies, consistent with recent updates to federal regulations, to ensure that patients continue to receive necessary care after leaving the hospital.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Maui County Office on Aging, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawai‘i Pacific Health, The Queen's Health Systems, AARP Hawaii, Hawaii Family Caregiver Coalition, Faith Action for Community Equity Hawaii, and sixteen individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs; Hawaii Government Employees Association; Faith Action for Community Equity, Oahu Chapter; Hawaii Pacific Gerontological Society; Concerned American Veterans; ILWU, Local 142; and twenty-three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that Hawaii's population of older adults continues to increase.  In 2012, Hawaii had the highest percentage of residents over the age of eighty-five in the United States, and this population is projected to grow to sixty-five percent over the next twenty years.  These individuals are the most likely to need long-term supports and services and will likely rely on family and friends as their caregivers due to financial and resource constraints.

     Your Committee further finds that while strong home- and community-based resources, such as respite, non-medical transportation services, and home-delivered meals, are important to help caregivers and their loved ones, medical supports are also important.  Coordination among primary care providers along with preventive care will enable many seniors and other individuals with chronic or debilitating conditions to stay in their homes longer.  However, in the event of an acute episode, hospitals must provide assistance to patients and their caregivers in order to prepare them for discharge and help them transition back to their home.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending findings to emphasize Hawaii's increase of older adults in the population, the importance of hospitals assisting patients and their caregivers with transitioning back to a home setting, and the responsibilities that hospitals have related to discharge planning and transitions of care;

     (2)  Amending the definition of "patient" to mean an individual admitted to a hospital for inpatient treatment;

     (3)  Deleting language that would have required discharge policies to incorporate established, evidence-based practices; and

     (4)  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 Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2397, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2397, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Human Services.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair