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Senate approves bill to add emergency department data to Delaware's uniform health data law
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Summary
House Bill 231, clarifying that emergency department data must be included in the state's uniform health data system, passed the Senate March 18 after DHSS testimony that hospitals already collect the data and the bill would not impose new costs.
The Delaware Senate passed House Bill 231 on March 18 to clarify that Emergency Department (ED) data are included in the state's uniform health data law.
Senator Huxtable brought the bill to the floor, explaining that current law requiring hospitals to submit hospital discharge data has been interpreted to cover only admitted patients, leaving most ED visits uncaptured. The bill clarifies that Emergency Department data be included alongside hospital discharge data so the state can better track overdoses, injuries and other acute public-health issues.
A witness from the Department of Health and Social Services, James Berryhill, told senators that the bill should not change hospitals' data collection or the state's ability to collect and transmit records because hospitals already collect ED data and some already share it with the State. Berryhill said the measure "does not affect their data collection or what they do at all" and that the provision simply aligns the statute with current practice. The sponsor said the bill does not create new mandates or costs and thanked hospital partners for working on the clarification.
The Senate approved House Bill 231 by roll call: 20 yes, 1 absent; the presiding officer declared the bill passed in the Senate.
