Establishes centralized electronic health information exchange infrastructure to facilitate reentry into civilian life for recently incarcerated persons.

A4695

ASSEMBLY, No. 4695

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 16, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� ELIANA PINTOR MARIN

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblyman� STERLEY S. STANLEY

District 18 (Middlesex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Morales

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes centralized electronic health information
exchange infrastructure to facilitate reentry into civilian life for recently
incarcerated persons.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning electronic health information and amending
P.L.2007, c.330.

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

���� 1.�� Section 5 of P.L.2007,
c.330 (C.26:1A-136) is amended to read as follows:�

���� 5.��� a.�� There is
established the New Jersey Health Information Technology Commission.� For the
purpose of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1
of the New Jersey Constitution, the commission is established within the
Department of Health, but, notwithstanding the establishment, the commission
shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department or any
board or officer thereof.

���� b.��� The commission shall
collaborate with the Office for e-HIT established pursuant to section 8 of
[
this act
]

P.L.2007,
c.330
(C.17:1D-1), concerning all activities related to the development,
implementation, and oversight of the plan.

���� The commission shall be
responsible for approving the Statewide health information technology plan.

���� c.���� In providing advice on
the development of the plan, the commission shall, at a minimum, consider the
following:

���� (1)�� the importance of the
education of the general public and health care professionals about the value
of an electronic health infrastructure for improving the delivery of patient
care;

���� (2)�� the means for the
creation of an effective, efficient, Statewide use of electronic health
information in patient care, health care policymaking, clinical research,
health care financing, and continuous quality improvements;

���� (3)�� the means for the
promotion of the use of national standards for the development of an
interoperative system, including provisions relating to security, privacy, data
content, structures and format, vocabulary, and transmission protocols;

���� (4)�� the nature of proper
strategic investments in equipment and other infrastructure elements that will
facilitate the ongoing development of a Statewide infrastructure;

���� (5)�� funding needs for the
ongoing development of health information technology projects;

���� (6)�� actions needed to
incorporate existing health care information technology initiatives into the
plan in order to avoid incompatible systems and duplicative efforts;

���� (7)�� the proper means for the
review and integration of the recommendations, findings, and conclusions of the
New Jersey Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration;

���� (8)�� the importance of
recommending steps for the proper resolution of issues related to data
ownership, governance, and confidentiality and security of patient information;

���� (9)�� the importance of
promoting the deployment of health information technology in primary care
provider settings; and

���� (10) the roles that the
development and use of open-source electronic medical record software and the
use of application service provider software can play in effectuating the
purposes of paragraph (9) of this subsection.

���� d.��� The commission shall
review the plan submitted by the Office for e-HIT and notify it of any changes
needed to approve the plan.

����
e.���� The commission shall
establish centralized, electronic health information exchange infrastructure,
in a manner determined by the commission in consultation with the Department of
Health and the Department of Corrections, for the purpose of electronically
storing and sharing a patient�s health information which is submitted to or
requested of the commission by a health care professional, the Department of
Corrections, a jail or prison, a prisoner reentry program or service, or an
addiction treatment services provider.� The commission shall ensure that the
health information exchange infrastructure established pursuant to this
subsection helps to facilitate the necessary exchange of a patient�s health
information between a health care professional, the Department of Corrections,
a jail or prison, a prisoner reentry program or service, or an addiction
treatment services provider at the request of the patient and with the
patient�s informed consent.� The commission shall ensure that its health
information exchange infrastructure and protocols for storing and sharing a
patient�s health information comply with applicable federal and State privacy
laws.�

(cf: P.L.2012, c.17, s.110)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill provides for the
establishment of centralized electronic health information exchange
infrastructure to facilitate reentry into civilian life for recently
incarcerated persons.

���� Under the bill, the New Jersey
Health Information Technology Commission (commission) is to establish
centralized, electronic health information exchange infrastructure, in a manner
determined by the commission in consultation with the Department of Health and
the Department of Corrections, for the purpose of electronically storing and
sharing a patient�s health information which is submitted to or requested of
the commission by a health care professional, the Department of Corrections, a
jail or prison, a prisoner reentry program or service, or an addiction
treatment services provider.� The commission is to ensure that the health
information exchange infrastructure established pursuant to this bill helps to
facilitate the necessary exchange of a patient�s health information between a
health care professional, the Department of Corrections, a jail or prison, a
prisoner reentry program or service, or an addiction treatment services
provider at the request of the patient and with the patient�s informed consent.�
The commission is to ensure that its health information exchange infrastructure
and protocols for storing and sharing a patient�s health information comply
with applicable federal and State privacy laws.