HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2610        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2469

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Elizabeth A. Malia

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to enhance access to prescription information and overdose reporting for care coordination.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2610        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2469

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act to enhance access to prescription information and overdose reporting for care coordination.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1: Section 24A of Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting in place thereof the following:

(g) The department may, at its initiative, provide data from the prescription monitoring program to practitioners in accordance with section 24; provided, however, that healthcare providers, as defined in Section 1 of Chapter 111, shall be able to access the data directly through a secure electronic medical record, health information exchange, or other similar software or information systems connected to the prescription monitoring program for the purposes of: (i) improving ease of access and utilization of such data for treatment, diagnosis, or healthcare operations; (ii) supporting integration of such data within the electronic health records of a healthcare provider for purposes of treatment, diagnosis, or healthcare operations; or, (iii) allowing healthcare providers and their vendors to maintain such data for the purposes of compiling and visualizing such data within the electronic health records of a healthcare provider that supports treatment, diagnosis, or healthcare operations.

SECTION 2: Section 1 of Chapter 55 of the Acts of 2015, as most recently amended by Section 136 of Chapter 133 of the Acts of 2016, is hereby further amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of health and human services, in collaboration with the department of public health, shall conduct or provide for an examination of the prescribing and treatment history, including court-ordered treatment or treatment within the criminal justice system, of persons in the commonwealth who suffered fatal or nonfatal opiate overdoses in calendar years 2013 to 2020, inclusive. Any report or supplemental reports resulting from this examination shall provide any data in an aggregate and de-identified format.

SECTION 3: Section 1 of Chapter 55 of the Acts of 2015, as most recently amended by Section 137 of Chapter 133 of the Acts of 2016, is hereby further amended by striking out the fourth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

The report, which shall be publicly available, shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the joint committee on public health, the joint committee on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means. The secretary of health and human services may publish supplemental reports on the trends identified through its examination; provided, however, that any supplemental report shall be filed not later than July 1, 2021 and shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the joint committee on public health, the joint committee on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means.