SSHB372 4465 5134
HOUSE SUMMARY OF SENATE AMENDMENTS
HB 372 2024 Regular Session Crews
HEALTH CARE/PROVIDERS: Provides relative to patient wait time for the provision of
emergency care
Synopsis of Senate Amendments
1.Removes provisions requiring the La. Dept. of Health to collect data from
ground ambulance providers whenever a patient seeking emergency care is
transferred from the ground ambulance provider to a hospital.
2.Removes provisions requiring the collection of the total number of patients in
need of emergency care transported by the ground ambulance provider to each
hospital during the previous quarter and the total number of such patients who
were not transferred to an appropriate place in the hospital to receive emergency
care from hospital staff within 30 minutes of arrival at the hospital.
3.Removes provisions requiring the La. Dept. of Health to submit an annual
report summarizing the data collected from ground ambulance providers.
4.Creates the Ambulance Patient Offload Delay Collaborative within the La.
Dept. of Health.
5.Directs the bureau of emergency medical services to facilitate discussions and
meetings of a statewide collaborative to include the bureau of emergency
medical services, the Louisiana Hospital Association, the Louisiana Ambulance
Alliance, and other appropriate stakeholders.
6.Adds that the collaborative shall hold its first meeting on or before Oct. 1, 2024,
and shall meet as often as necessary to accomplish the requirements of proposed
law, which tasks the collaborative with studying a number of issues related to
extended wait times for patients being transferred from emergency transport to
a hospital for emergency treatment.
7.Adds that the collaborative shall prepare and submit a report summarizing the
collaborative's findings and recommendations to the House and Senate
committees on health and welfare by Feb. 1, 2025.
Digest of Bill as Finally Passed by Senate
Proposed law creates the Ambulance Patient Offload Delay Collaborative (collaborative)
within the La. Dept. of Health, bureau of emergency medical services.
Proposed law directs the bureau of emergency medical services to facilitate discussions and
meetings of a statewide collaborative to include the bureau, the Louisiana Hospital
Association, the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance, and other appropriate stakeholders.
Proposed law provides that the collaborative shall hold its first meeting on or before Oct. 1,
2024, and shall meet as often necessary to accomplish the requirements of proposed law.
Proposed law states that the collaborative shall be responsible for all of the following:
(1)Reviewing the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA).
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(2)Collecting currently available data from emergency medical services and hospitals
concerning ambulance patient offload times.
(3)Exploring enacted legislation and best practices and policies in other areas to address
the issue of long patient transfer times.
(4)Exploring options to reduce demand on hospital emergency departments.
(5)Proposing a format for facilitating local collaborative communications between
ambulance service providers and hospital administrators.
Proposed law provides that the collaborative shall prepare and submit a report summarizing
the collaborative's findings and recommendations to the House and Senate committees on
health and welfare by Feb. 1, 2025.
Proposed law permits the collaborative to meet as necessary after submitting the final report
as required by proposed law. If the collaborative continues to meet, it shall submit an annual
report to the House and Senate committees on health and welfare by February 1st of each
year.
(Adds R.S. 36:259(B)(20) and R.S. 40:1134)
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