Committee backs bill to create regional perinatal advisory committee; it clarifies access to maternal mental-health records and autopsies

The Health and Human Services Committee unanimously approved a do-pass recommendation for House Bill 89, which would create a regional perinatal center advisory committee to coordinate care among six existing centers and clarify procedures for maternal mortality review, psychiatric-record access and autopsy responsibility.

Representative Chair Lee, presenting the bill, said the advisory committee would help ensure regional perinatal centers ‘‘are basically all working off the same page’’ and coordinate referral and specialist access for rural providers. ‘‘We have 6 regional perinatal centers across our state… If they have questions or need help, they could refer to 1 of these centers,’’ Lee said, noting one region may require an additional center because of its large geographic coverage.

Megan Andrews, assistant commissioner for policy at the Department of Public Health, told the committee the advisory body is an output of a recent meeting among regional centers and state agencies and would work alongside — not replace — the Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC). ‘‘The MMRC… review case by case maternal deaths, in-depth medical records, family interviews. This group will be looking at the hospital based system of care… and working collaboratively to decide do we need to add another regional perinatal center?’’ Andrews said.

The bill also addresses longstanding difficulty obtaining psychiatric records needed for maternal mortality reviews. Andrews described ‘‘stricter confidentiality provisions around access to mental health records’’ that have limited record sharing; the bill clarifies that nurse extractors and the review process should have access to those records to enable complete reviews and recommendations. The measure also specifies responsibilities for autopsies in pregnancy-associated deaths, prompted by past refusals from providers to perform those autopsies.

Senator Halpern and others asked about clinical innovations and how the advisory committee would relate to prevention activities; the committee heard that the advisory panel will focus on system-of-care recommendations, while MMRC retains case‑level review responsibilities.

Senator Mangum moved the bill; Chairman Brass seconded. The committee voted ‘‘aye’’ on a voice vote and Chair reported the motion passed unanimously.

Votes at a glance: House Bill 89 — committee recommendation: do pass (unanimous).

Sources and provenance: Presentation and discussion are documented in committee transcript; the Department of Public Health’s assistant commissioner participated in the discussion.