Expanding the duties of the secretary of health and environment when investigating maternal deaths to include promoting continuity of care, helping develop performance measures and establishing an external review committee to study cases and make recommendations to prevent maternal deaths.
Impact
The implications of SB 118 extend to state legislation surrounding health data and maternal health initiatives. It aims to promote continuity of care during pregnancy and after childbirth by mandating collaboration with healthcare providers to develop effective performance measures that address maternal health. The bill highlights the importance of building a comprehensive understanding of maternal deaths by combining various data sources, which may facilitate targeted policy action to improve maternal health outcomes in Kansas.
Summary
Senate Bill 118 seeks to enhance the duties of the Secretary of Health and Environment in investigating maternal deaths in Kansas. The bill lays out a framework for collecting and analyzing data related to maternal deaths, which includes access to law enforcement and medical records. The primary aim is to understand and ultimately reduce maternal mortality rates in the state through comprehensive data analysis and research. It establishes a requirement for the regular compilation of aggregate data that is stripped of individual identifiers to ensure confidentiality and focus on aggregate trends in maternal health outcomes.
Contention
While SB 118 appears to be a proactive measure for improving maternal health systems, there may be potential points of contention regarding data privacy and the extent of government oversight in healthcare. The bill mandates confidential handling of sensitive medical and personal data related to maternal deaths, which could lead to discussions about the balance between necessary oversight and patient privacy rights. Some stakeholders may raise concerns about ensuring that the investigations remain sensitive to cultural and geographic disparities in maternal healthcare access, highlighting the need for inclusive representation in the review committees stipulated by the bill.
Expanding the duties of the secretary of health and environment when investigating maternal deaths to include promoting continuity of care, helping develop performance measures and establishing an external review committee to study cases and make recommendations to prevent maternal deaths.
Establishing the prevention of maternal mortality grant program fund within the department of health and environment, providing for competitive grants to fund programs for the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, establishing the prevention of maternal mortality grant program fund and making transfers to such fund.
Maternal mortality; reducing membership of Maternal Mortality Review Committee; requiring certain reporting and investigation of maternal deaths. Effective date.
Maternal mortality; reducing membership of Maternal Mortality Review Committee; requiring certain reporting and investigation of maternal deaths. Effective date.
House Substitute for HB 2390 by Committee on Public Health and Welfare - Requiring the secretary of health and environment to study drug overdose death cases and providing for the confidentiality of acquired and related records, restricting the authority of the secretary of health and environment and local health officers to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious or contagious diseases and repealing the authority of the secretary to quarantine individuals and impose associated penalties.
Expanding the duties of the secretary of health and environment when investigating maternal deaths to include promoting continuity of care, helping develop performance measures and establishing an external review committee to study cases and make recommendations to prevent maternal deaths.
House Substitute for HB 2390 by Committee on Public Health and Welfare - Requiring the secretary of health and environment to study drug overdose death cases and providing for the confidentiality of acquired and related records, restricting the authority of the secretary of health and environment and local health officers to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious or contagious diseases and repealing the authority of the secretary to quarantine individuals and impose associated penalties.