Bill Text: NJ A1664 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Task Force on Hospital Technology to recommend incentives to encourage hospitals to integrate technology to improve patient care and safety.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A1664 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A1664-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Task Force on Hospital Technology to recommend incentives to encourage hospitals to integrate technology to improve patient care and safety
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act establishing a task force to recommend incentives to integrate technology into hospitals to improve patient care.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. As many as 44,000 to 98,000 people die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors, making medical errors the eighth leading cause of death in this country;
b. The Institute of Medicine maintains that technologies such as electronic health records and bed-side bar code systems can help to prevent many of these mistakes;
c. Despite the potential benefits of error-reducing technologies which ensure patient safety, fragmentation in the health care system coupled with a lack of financial support have hindered their widespread adoption; and
d. There is, therefore, a need to review and recommend incentives to the Governor and Legislature to encourage hospitals to integrate technology to improve patient care and safety.
2. a. There is established the Task Force on Hospital Technology in the Department of Health and Senior Services. The purpose of the task force shall be to recommend incentives to the Governor and Legislature to encourage hospitals to integrate technology to improve patient care and safety.
b. The task force shall consist of 15 members as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services or his designee, who shall serve ex officio; and
(2) 14 public members, to be appointed by the Governor, who shall include a representative of: Health Professionals and Allied Employees; the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey; the Medical Society of New Jersey; the New Jersey Association of Health Plans; the New Jersey Business and Industry Association; the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals; the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute; the New Jersey Hospital Association; the New Jersey Society of Health-System Pharmacists; the New Jersey State Nurses Association; the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy; and three members of the public who have demonstrated expertise in issues relating to the work of the task force.
c. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner provided for the original appointments. The public members of the task force shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for traveling and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform their duties, within the limits of funds made available to the task force for its purposes.
d. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than the 60th day after the appointment of its members, and shall select a chairperson and vice-chairperson from among the members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
e. The task force may meet at the call of its chair and hold hearings at the times and in the places it may deem appropriate and necessary to fulfill its charge. The task force shall be entitled to call to its assistance, and avail itself of the services of, the employees of any State, county or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.
f. The Department of Health and Senior Services shall provide staff services to the task force.
3. The task force shall identify error-reducing technologies it deems are most effective for ensuring patient safety in hospitals, and review, at a minimum, the following: obstacles hospitals encounter in seeking to adopt error-reducing technologies; financial and non-financial incentives which may encourage hospitals to integrate error-reducing technology in their patient care systems; the establishment of pilot projects to promote the use of error-reducing technology; and specific incentives offered to hospitals by other states to adopt error-reducing technology, and their results.
4. The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1) to the Legislature, along with any legislative bills that it desires to recommend for adoption by the Legislature, no later than 12 months after the date of its initial meeting.
5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the issuance of the task force report.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a 15-member Task Force on Hospital Technology in the Department of Health and Senior Services. The purpose of the task force is to recommend incentives to the Governor and Legislature to encourage hospitals to integrate technology to improve patient care and safety.
The task force shall identify
error-reducing technologies it deems are most effective for ensuring patient
safety in hospitals, and review the following: obstacles hospitals encounter
in seeking to adopt error-reducing technologies; financial and non-financial
incentives which may encourage hospitals to integrate error-reducing technology
in their patient care systems; the establishment of pilot projects to promote
the use of error-reducing technology;
and specific incentives offered to hospitals by other states to adopt
error-reducing technology, and their results.
The task force shall include the following members:
· the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services or his designee, who shall serve ex officio; and
· 14 public members, to be appointed by the Governor, to include
a representative of: Health Professionals and Allied Employees; the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey; the Medical Society of New Jersey; the New Jersey Association of Health Plans; the New Jersey Business and Industry Association; the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals; the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute; the New Jersey Hospital Association; the New Jersey Society of Health-System Pharmacists; the New Jersey State Nurses Association; the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy; and three members of the public who have demonstrated expertise in issues relating to the work of the task force.
The task force shall organize no later than the 60th day after the appointment of its members and select a chairperson and vice chairperson from among its members. The Department of Health and Senior Services shall provide staff services to the task force.
The task force shall present a report of its findings to the Governor and Legislature no later than 12 months after the date of its initial meeting.
The bill takes effect immediately and expires upon the issuance of the task force report.
