Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Maternal Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate hearing hears grief-driven bill to boost postpartum blood-clot screening and create VTE registry
Summary
A prime sponsor and a grieving mother urged the Senate Health and Human Services Committee to pass SB 609, which would require standardized screening, discharge education and a contracted nonprofit-run statewide VTE registry to collect anonymized diagnoses and improve maternal care.
Sen. Sharon Sarson introduced legislation aimed at reducing postpartum deaths from venous thromboembolism, telling the Senate Health and Human Services Committee that the bill "is intended to save the lives of mothers just like Katie." The bill would require hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and emergency care facilities to develop screening and treatment plans for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in women who have recently given birth and would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to contract with a qualified nonprofit to establish a statewide, de-identified VTE registry.
The sponsor said the bill responds to a constituent whose daughter died after an apparently preventable postpartum pulmonary embolism. "After the birth of her first child, Katie left the hospital with no discharge counseling or blood clot warning signs," the sponsor said, adding that system-level safeguards and standardized patient education could prevent similar tragedies.
John Williams of the Department of Health and Human Services told the committee the department conducted a fiscal review and, based on the bill's language, assumed a private entity would bear the cost to stand up and operate the registry. Williams recommended adding standard "safety-valve" language to protect the department if a contracted nonprofit could not meet its financial obligations. He also supported replacing ZIP code reporting with county-level reporting to reduce re-identification risk in rural communities.
Diane Morissette, the bill's constituent and mother of the deceased woman, gave emotional testimony recounting her daughter's death and urging lawmakers to adopt the measures. "Katie's death was preventable," she said, and called for standardized risk screening, clear discharge education and provider awareness so warning signs are recognized earlier.
The New Hampshire Hospital Association suggested the committee consider whether existing CMS VTE quality measures and the state's health-care quality and patient safety commission could address the problem without new statute. Ben Bradley, representing the Hospital Association, recommended either an interim study or targeted statutory language to avoid duplicative or unintended mandates on hospitals.
The committee asked for technical amendments and for DHHS and stakeholders to supply model language. The hearing record closed for SB 609, with members indicating they would work on amendment language to balance patient safety goals with operational and fiscal realities.
