HB4953 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 20871 MKM 46817 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB4953

Introduced 02/05/04, by Julie Hamos

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 2215/4-2

from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6504-2

Amends the Illinois Health Care Finance Reform Act. Requires the Department of Public Health to require all ambulatory surgical treatment centers licensed to operate in the State (now, the requirement applies only to hospitals licensed to operate in the State) to adopt a uniform system for submitting patient charges for payment from public and private payors and to electronically submit certain patient billing data to the Department for public disclosure. Makes corresponding changes in provisions concerning the process for review, adjustment, and validation of the publicly disclosed information. Requires the Department to collect and compile certain billing data from ambulatory surgical treatment centers according to certain standards by January 1, 2006 (or by January 1, 2007 for centers or physicians with fewer than 25 employees). Effective January 1, 2005.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health care.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Health Finance Reform Act is amended by changing Section 4-2 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2215/4-2) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6504-2)

Sec. 4-2. Powers and duties.

(a) (Blank).

(b) (Blank).

(c) (Blank).

(d) Uniform Provider Utilization and Charge Information.

(1) The Department of Public Health shall require that all hospitals and ambulatory surgical treatment centers licensed to operate in the State of Illinois adopt a uniform system for submitting patient charges for payment from public and private payors. This system shall be based upon adoption of the uniform electronic hospital billing form pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

(2) (Blank).

(3) The Department of Insurance shall require all third-party payors, including but not limited to, licensed insurers, medical and hospital service corporations, health maintenance organizations, and self-funded employee health plans, to accept the uniform billing form, without attachment as submitted by hospitals pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (d) above, effective January 1, 1985; provided, however, nothing shall prevent all such third party payors from requesting additional information necessary to determine eligibility for benefits or liability for reimbursement for services provided.

(4) Each hospital licensed in the State shall electronically submit to the Department patient billing data for conditions and procedures required for public disclosure pursuant to paragraph (6). For hospitals, the billing data to be reported shall include all inpatient surgical cases. Billing data submitted under this Act shall not include a patient's name, address, or Social Security number.

(5) By no later than January 1, 2005, the Department must collect and compile billing data required under paragraph (6) according to uniform electronic submission formats as required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. By no later than January 1, 2006, the Department must collect and compile from ambulatory surgical treatment centers the billing data required under paragraph (6) according to uniform electronic submission formats as required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

(6) The Department shall make available on its website the "Consumer Guide to Health Care" by January 1, 2006. The "Consumer Guide to Health Care" shall include information on 30 conditions and procedures identified by the Department that demonstrate the highest degree of variation in patient charges and quality of care. As to each condition or procedure, the "Consumer Guide to Health Care" shall include up-to-date comparison information relating to volume of cases, average charges, risk-adjusted mortality rates, and nosocomial infection rates. Information disclosed pursuant to this paragraph on mortality and infection rates shall be based upon information hospitals have previously submitted to the Department pursuant to their obligations to report health care information under other public health reporting laws and regulations outside of this Act.

(7) Publicly disclosed information must be provided in language that is easy to understand and accessible to consumers using an interactive query system.

(8) None of the information the Department discloses to the public under this subsection may be made available unless the information has been reviewed, adjusted, and validated according to the following process:

(i) Hospitals ambulatory surgical treatment centers and organizations representing hospitals are meaningfully involved in the development of all aspects of the Department's methodology for collecting, analyzing, and disclosing the information collected under this Act, including collection methods, formatting, and methods and means for release and dissemination;

(ii) The entire methodology for collection and analyzing the data is disclosed to all relevant organizations and to all providers that are the subject of any information to be made available to the public before any public disclosure of such information;

(iii) Data collection and analytical methodologies are used that meet accepted standards of validity and reliability before any information is made available to the public;

(iv) The limitations of the data sources and analytic methodologies used to develop comparative provider information are clearly identified and acknowledged, including, but not limited to, appropriate and inappropriate uses of the data;

(v) To the greatest extent possible, comparative hospital and ambulatory surgical treatment center information initiatives use standard-based norms derived from widely accepted provider-developed practice guidelines;

(vi) Comparative hospital information and other information that the Department has compiled regarding hospitals is shared with the hospitals and ambulatory surgical treatment centers under review prior to public dissemination of the information and these providers have an opportunity to make corrections and additions of helpful explanatory comments about the information before the publication;

(vii) Comparisons among hospitals and ambulatory surgical treatment centers adjust for patient case mix and other relevant risk factors and control for provider peer groups;

(viii) Effective safeguards to protect against the unauthorized use or disclosure of hospital and ambulatory surgical treatment center information are developed and implemented;

(ix) Effective safeguards to protect against the dissemination of inconsistent, incomplete, invalid, inaccurate, or subjective provider data are developed and implemented;

(x) The quality and accuracy of hospital and ambulatory surgical treatment center information reported under this Act and its data collection, analysis, and dissemination methodologies are evaluated regularly; and

(xi) Only the most basic identifying information from mandatory reports is used, and patient identifiable information is not released. The input data collected by the Department shall not be a public record under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

None of the information the Department discloses to the public under this Act may be used to establish a standard of care in a private civil action.

(9) The Department must develop and implement an outreach campaign to educate the public regarding the availability of the "Consumer Guide to Health Care".

(10) Within 12 months after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, the Department must study the most effective methods for public disclosure of patient charge data and health care quality information that will be useful to consumers in making health care decisions and report its recommendations to the Governor and to the General Assembly.

(11) The Department must undertake all steps necessary under State and Federal law to protect patient confidentiality in order to prevent the identification of individual patient records.

(e) (Blank).

(Source: P.A. 92-597, eff. 7-1-02; 93-144, eff. 7-10-03.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2005.