HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1364 FILED ON: 1/16/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1907
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Patricia A. Haddad
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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 relative to conducting fetal and infant mortality review.
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PETITION OF:
Name: | District/Address: | Date Added: |
Patricia A. Haddad | 5th Bristol | 1/16/2019 |
Tricia Farley-Bouvier | 3rd Berkshire | 1/23/2019 |
Michael J. Barrett | Third Middlesex | 1/29/2019 |
Carolyn C. Dykema | 8th Middlesex | 1/23/2019 |
Lori A. Ehrlich | 8th Essex | 1/23/2019 |
Nika C. Elugardo | 15th Suffolk | 2/1/2019 |
Sean Garballey | 23rd Middlesex | 1/26/2019 |
Danielle W. Gregoire | 4th Middlesex | 1/28/2019 |
David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf | 17th Worcester | 1/23/2019 |
Mark C. Montigny | Second Bristol and Plymouth | 1/30/2019 |
Alice Hanlon Peisch | 14th Norfolk | 1/31/2019 |
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1364 FILED ON: 1/16/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1907
By Mrs. Haddad of Somerset, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1907) of Patricia A. Haddad and others relative to conducting fetal and infant mortality review. Public Health. |
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1219 OF 2017-2018.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)
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An Act relative to conducting fetal and infant mortality review.
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. Chapter 38 of the general laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2A the following section: --
Section 2B. As used in this section, the term below shall have the following meaning: -
“Authorized local health agency”, shall mean a health board, department, or other governmental entity that is authorized by the department of public health to receive timely data relative to fetal and infant deaths for assessing, planning, improving and monitoring the service systems and community resources that support child and maternal health.
The department of public health shall establish a process for designating authorized local health agencies. This process may include reasonable criteria regarding the level of expertise, workforce capacity, or organizational capacity. Authorized local health agencies shall be authorized to conduct in-depth fetal infant mortality review of each individual infant and fetal death occurring within their jurisdiction, in order to identify local factors associated with fetal and infant deaths and inform public health policy programs.
For each case of fetal or infant death to be reviewed, authorized local health agencies are hereby authorized to collect relevant data from a variety of sources, which may include physician and hospital records in addition to relevant community program records. Authorized local health agencies are authorized to collect, and the department is authorized to provide, timely access to vital records and other data reasonably necessary for fetal and infant mortality review.
The department may issue additional guidance through policy or regulation, consistent with this section, regarding the process for conducting fetal infant mortality reviews by authorized local health agencies, which may include guidance from the National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program.