STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2423

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3246

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 3246 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOSPITAL DISCHARGE DATA,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a statewide system for collecting, auditing, and publicly releasing of de-identified hospital discharge data; and

(2) Require the State Health Planning and Development Agency to convene a working group.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency, Navian Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices and Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that heath care data can be a valuable tool to create and implement evidence-based health care policies, which may result in better coordination and decision-making across all participants in the health care landscape, from patients, to providers, payors, and the State. Your Committee further finds that de-identified hospital discharge data is particularly helpful in creating hospital participation strategies based on better understanding of current utilization and can help inform neighbor island communities to develop means of increasing inpatient and community care locally. This measure supports the goal of using health care data to improve health care policy and outcomes.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Exempting the State Hospital from the inpatient hospital discharge data report requirement;

(2) Deleting language that would have authorized the State Health Planning and Development Agency to charge a reasonable fee for the cost of copying a report, as fees for responding to a public record request are already provided for in rules adopted by the Office of Information Practices;

(3) Inserting an effective date of January 30, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3246, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3246, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair