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Panel advances bill aligning patient test-results law with federal rules, allows brief review period for life-altering findings
Summary
House Bill 409, which updates the state’s Patient Test Results Information Act to reflect federal Cures Act guidance and allows providers up to one business day to review and contact patients about results that may indicate malignancy, was reported favorably after adoption of an amendment clarifying responsibilities for clinical laboratories.
House Bill 409, which amends the Patient Test Results Information Act to reflect federal guidance under the Cures Act and to set a narrow review window for potentially life-altering results, was reported affirmatively by the House Health Committee after the panel adopted an amendment clarifying responsibilities for clinical laboratories.
Committee staff Mike explained the intent: "Under house bill 4 0 9, the statute is amended to reflect that fact. The requirement for imaging centers to notify all patients of abnormal results is removed as patients receive all results regardless. Instead, imaging centers must notify patients that results will be available in their online portal and advise patients that do not access their electronic health records to explain how they can receive the results via mail." He added that the bill changes the default timeline to allow Pennsylvania providers one business day to review results "that may be life altering, such as a cancer diagnosis or genetic disease, and contact patients before they would receive results automatically."
Representative Krupa sponsored Amendment A00031, which "removes clinical laboratories from the requirement to develop policies and procedures" for providing test results to patients while still requiring health-care facilities and entities performing diagnostic imaging to do so, and "adds clinical laboratory tests to the list of reports and tests that may be withheld for 1 full business day if they have a reasonable likelihood of showing a finding of malignancy." The committee adopted the amendment.
Sponsor Rep. Kosarowski described personal experience to illustrate why a short review period can matter: she recounted watching MRI results posted to an online portal and said even with medical knowledge she experienced panic at seeing results before a practitioner could provide context. She and other supporters said the measure balances rapid access to records with a brief, one-business-day review when results suggest a possible malignancy.
Amendment A00031 was adopted and House Bill 409 was reported affirmatively from committee. The transcript does not include a roll-call tally for the committee report.
