ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 4253

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

  ADOPTED JUNE 22, 2020

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  HERB CONAWAY, JR.

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblywoman  NANCY J. PINKIN

District 18 (Middlesex)

Assemblywoman  ANGELICA M. JIMENEZ

District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires certain electronic medical programs to include gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity data entry feature; requires certain laboratories to record patients’ gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity information.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Substitute as adopted by the Assembly Health Committee.

  

 

 

 


An Act concerning clinical laboratories and certain electronic medical records and supplementing Title 45 of the Revised Statutes. 

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    As used in this act, “clinical laboratory” means a laboratory licensed by the Department of Health, pursuant to the "New Jersey Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act," P.L.1975, c.166 (C.45:9-42.26 et seq.).

 

     2.    a.  (1)  A clinical laboratory shall electronically record the race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity of each patient, who presents with a non-electronic order for testing at a clinical laboratory patient service center.  If a clinical laboratory processes a specimen without the presence of a patient, the clinical laboratory shall not be responsible for recording and reporting the patient’s gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic information.

     (2)   Race and ethnicity selections shall include, but shall not be limited to:  African American, Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Latino, more than one race, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, White, and prefer not to say.

     (3)   Sexual orientation selections shall include, but shall not be limited to:  bisexual, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, unsure, other, and prefer not to say.

     (4)   Gender identity selections shall include, but shall not be limited to:  male, female, transgender female, transgender male, other, and prefer not to say.

     b.    Any health care related data that is required under State law to be reported by a clinical laboratory to a local or State governmental entity shall include any corresponding gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic data recorded pursuant to this section, and shall be incorporated into the corresponding disease surveillance reporting system of the local or State governmental entity.

     c.     A non-electronic specimen collection and analysis requisition form distributed by a clinical laboratory shall contain a section for the manual entry of the patient’s racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, and gender identity information on the form.

     d.    A clinical laboratory that fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be liable to a penalty in accordance with the provisions of sections 13 and 14 of P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-13 and C.26:2H-14).

 

     3.    Any electronic medical records or laboratory information management systems used in this State, on or after the effective date of this act, shall be configured in a manner that prevents an authorized user from saving or storing a patient’s demographic information into the electronic medical records or laboratory information management systems unless a patient’s gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic information is recorded.  The gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic information of a patient shall be included in laboratory orders generated by electronic medical record systems.

 

     4.    Nothing in this act shall be construed to compel a patient to disclose the patient’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity to a clinical laboratory, health care provider, or any other entity.

 

     5.    The Commissioner of Health shall adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

 

     6.    This act shall take effect 90 days after the date of enactment.