SENATE DOCKET, NO. 763        FILED ON: 1/14/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Cynthia Stone Creem

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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 making technical changes to the Betsy Lehman Center for patient safety and medical error reduction enabling statute.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 763        FILED ON: 1/14/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 728 OF 2023-2024.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act making technical changes to the Betsy Lehman Center for patient safety and medical error reduction enabling statute.

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 15 of chapter 12C of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 343 of the acts of 2024, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b, and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(b) There shall be established within the center the Betsy Lehman center for patient safety and medical error reduction. The purpose of the Lehman center shall be to serve as a clearinghouse for the development, evaluation and dissemination, including, but not limited to, the sponsorship of training and education programs, of best practices for patient safety and medical error reduction. The Lehman center shall: (1) coordinate the efforts of state agencies engaged in the regulation, contracting or delivery of health care and those individuals or institutions licensed by the commonwealth to provide health care to meet their responsibilities for patient safety and medical error reduction; and (2) convene all such entities, consumers, and others with experience and expertise in patient safety to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for improving safety for patients and the health care workforce across the continuum of care. The Lehman center shall coordinate state participation in any appropriate state or federal reports or data collection efforts relative to patient safety and medical error reduction. The Lehman center shall analyze available data, research and reports for information that would improve education and training programs that promote patient safety. The Lehman center shall evaluate approaches for monitoring and improving the performance of the health care system through enhanced patient safety data resources.

SECTION 2. Said section 15 of said chapter 12C of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 343 of the acts of 2024, is hereby further amended, in subsection (h), by inserting after the second sentence the following sentence:-

The Lehman center may establish a trust fund that is structured to receive, maintain, and spend federal and foundation grants in furtherance of its responsibilities under this section and, to such extent, the director of the Lehman center shall have the powers provided in section 6 of chapter 6A.