HB2185

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2185
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to maternal health.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that maternal morbidity rates in the United States are among the highest in the developed world. Each year, more than fifty thousand women suffer from complications in pregnancy or childbirth that have serious consequences for the women's short- or long-term health.

The legislature further finds that there are disparities in national maternal health outcomes that are not fully explained by differences in prenatal care access, socioeconomic status, or general physical health. A growing body of evidence indicates that women of color are often treated unequally and unfairly in the health care system. Studies show that implicit bias is often a key factor driving unequal treatment and poorer health outcomes for patients of color. At present, the State does not require health care professionals to undergo implicit bias training.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the department of human services to develop and administer an implicit bias training program for health care professionals in the State's perinatal facilities.

SECTION 2. Chapter 346, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§346- Implicit bias training for perinatal facilities. (a) The department shall develop and administer an evidence-based implicit bias training program.

(b) All health care professionals employed at a perinatal facility and engaged in direct patient care shall complete implicit bias training within sixty days of the enactment of this Act or sixty days of the start of employment, and an implicit bias refresher course every two years thereafter, or more frequently if deemed necessary by the department.

(1) Methods of identifying the attendee's previous or current implicit biases, implicit prejudices, or implicit stereotypes;

(2) Discussions of personal, interpersonal, institutional, structural, and cultural barriers to inclusion;

(3) Discussions of the corrective measures available to decrease implicit bias at the interpersonal and institutional levels, including discussions of existing policies and practices for this purpose;

(4) Information on the effects of historical and contemporary exclusion and oppression on minorities and minority communities;

(5) Discussions of cultural identity across racial or ethnic groups;

(6) Methods of communicating more effectively across identity groups, including identity groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, and other factors;

(7) Discussions of any concerns about implicit bias in the perinatal facility's power dynamics or organizational decision-making processes;

(8) Discussions of health inequities within the perinatal care field, including information on the effects of implicit bias on maternal and infant health outcomes; and

(9) Perspectives from diverse, local constituency groups and experts on community-specific topics related to identity, race, culture, and provider-community relations.

(d) The department may offer implicit bias training to a health care professional not employed by a perinatal facility; provided that the health care professional works in the perinatal field and is involved in direct patient care.

(e) Upon completion of the training and upon the health care professional's request, the department shall provide to the health care professional a certificate of implicit bias training completion."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________