Public health: maternal health.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, as specified. Existing law requires the department to maintain a program of maternal, child, and adolescent health. This bill would establish a maternal mortality review panel to conduct ongoing comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths and severe maternal morbidity in California to identify factors associated with the deaths and make recommendations for system changes to improve health care services for women in this state. The bill would also make information, documents, proceedings, records, and opinions created, collected, or maintained by the maternity mortality review panel or the State Department of Public Health in support of the maternal mortality review panel confidential and not subject to public inspection, discovery, or introduction into evidence in any civil action. The bill would also prohibit any person in attendance at a meeting of the maternal mortality review panel or who participates in the creation, collection, or maintenance of the panel's information, documents, proceedings, records, or opinions to testify in any civil action as to the content of those proceedings or the panel's information, documents, records, or opinions. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to review department available data to identify maternal deaths and would mandate health care providers, health care facilities, clinics, laboratories, medical examiners, coroners, professionals, and facilities licensed by the State Department of Public Health to provide documents, as specified, upon request of the department. The bill also requires the State Department of Public Health to prepare and submit to the Legislature a biennial report on maternal mortality in California based on the data collected. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.