Senate Committee Passes Patient
Safety Legislation
July 25, 2003 - The Senate Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions (HELP) Committee July 23 unanimously passed the
"Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2003"
(S.
720). The bill is a revised version of legislation introduced
in March by Sens. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), John Breaux (D-La.),
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).
Similar to legislation passed March 12 by the House (H.R.
663), S. 720 establishes a voluntary and confidential
medical errors reporting system. The system would compile
and analyze the data with the intent of developing and disseminating
"best practices" to avoid medical errors and improve
healthcare quality [see Washington
Highlights, March 14].
Unlike H.R. 663, S. 720 does not include provider grants for
purchasing information technology and it extends reporter
protections to include (with certain exceptions) information
related to criminal proceedings. While H.R. 663 establishes
an HHS-based process for certifying "Patient Safety Organizations
(PSOs)," S. 720 would allow PSOs to "self-certify."
Several committee members filed amendments in advance of
the July 23 mark-up, including Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.),
Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Jack Reed
(D-R.I.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Most of the amendments
would have changed the Senate language to reflect House-passed
provisions (e.g., adding grants, eliminating protections related
to criminal proceedings). None of the amendments were offered
as Committee Chairman Gregg assured his colleagues that they
would work together to resolve their concerns before the bill
went to the Senate floor.
Information:
Christiane Mitchell, Senior Legislative Analyst
AAMC Government Relations
cmitchell@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
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