BILL NUMBER: AB 2074	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bradford

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to add Section 12300.15 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to in-home supportive services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2074, as introduced, Bradford. In-Home Supportive Services
program: telehealth training program.
   Existing law provides for the county-administered In-Home
Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged,
blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to
permit them to remain in their own homes and avoid
institutionalization. Existing law authorizes services to be provided
under the IHSS program either through the employment of individual
providers, a contract between the county and an entity for the
provision of services, the creation by the county of a public
authority, or a contract between the county and a nonprofit
consortium. Existing law requires the department, in consultation
with counties, to develop a standardized curriculum, training
materials, and work aids, and operate an ongoing statewide training
program, on specified matters related to the provision of in-home
supportive services.
   This bill would require the department to develop a training
program, as specified, to train IHSS providers on the utilization of
telehealth in home-based care.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 12300.15 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
   12300.15.  (a) For purposes of this section, "telehealth" has the
meaning set forth in subparagraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section
2290.5 of the Business and Professions Code.
   (b) The department shall develop a training program, which
includes a standardized curriculum and training materials, to train
in-home supportive services (IHSS) providers on the utilization of
telehealth, as described in subdivision (a), in home-based care.
   (c) The training program shall instruct IHSS providers in areas
relating to telehealth, including, but not limited to, the following:

   (1) The use of relevant Internet tools and resources, and the
development of a technical understanding of the Internet and of
relevant applications on the Internet.
   (2) Patient safety and clinical risk management, including the
prevention and control of risk to patients and the use of
computerized health care records.
   (3) Standard practices regarding patient data within a health
information system, including the handling of confidential
information and personal data, and other responsibilities and
prohibitions relating to patient data.
   (4) The use of devices commonly used in telehealth, including, but
not limited to, the following:
   (A) Blood pressure devices.
   (B) Blood glucose devices.
   (C) Electrocardiogram devices.
   (D) Weight scales.
   (E) Pulse oximetry devices.
   (F) Spirometry devices.
   (G) Portable sonogram devices.
   (H) Stethoscopes.
   (e) The department shall develop a program pursuant to this
section by January 1, 2014.