HB 574-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
09Mar2005… 0464h
2005 SESSION
01/09
HOUSE BILL 574-FN
AN ACT requiring the reporting of burn injuries.
SPONSORS: Rep. DeJoie, Merr 11; Rep. Clayton, Hills 10; Rep. S. L'Heureux, Merr 9; Rep. Bridle, Rock 15; Rep. P. Garrity, Hills 14; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Burling, Dist 5
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill requires health care professionals to report burn injuries to the state fire marshal in certain circumstances. The bill grants rulemaking authority to the state fire marshal for the purposes of the bill.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09Mar2005… 0464h
05-0859
01/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT requiring the reporting of burn injuries.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Reporting of Burn Injuries. Amend RSA 153 by inserting after section 11 the following new section:
153:11-a Reporting of Burn Injuries.
I. In any case where a health care professional is called upon to examine or treat a person for a burn injury and has reasonable cause to suspect that the burn injury was sustained in connection with the commission of a crime, or in the handling of explosives, or if a burn injury requires impatient admission to a hospital, the health care professional shall report such burn injury to the state fire marshal immediately by telephone or electronic means and followed within 48 hours by a report in writing, if so requested by the state fire marshal.
II. A health care practitioner who, acting in good faith in reporting under this section or participating in a related investigation or proceeding, makes a report pursuant to paragraph I, shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for the act of reporting or participating in a related investigation or proceeding.
III. The state fire marshal shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the reporting of burn injuries required under paragraph I of this section.
IV. The bureau of emergency medical services shall provide notification to the state fire marshal of burn injury reports which it receives from emergency medical services providers. In the event that a patient receives emergency medical treatment for a burn injury described under this section before being treated in a hospital or a physician’s office, the health care practitioner shall not be required to report the burn injury as provided under this section.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.
LBAO
05-0859
1/28/05
HB 574-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring the reporting of burn injuries.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety and Board of Medicine state this bill will increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2006 and in each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety assumed there will be additional costs for the state fire marshal to establish and maintain a burn registry data bank. Costs would include coordination with medical professionals, record keeping, and costs associated with the production and distribution of reports.
The Board of Medicine assumed this bill may result in additional non-disciplinary proceedings in the case of a physician not complying with the reporting requirement. The Board could not estimate how many additional hearings, if any, would result.