HCS/SS/SB 416 - This act creates the Missouri Health Information Exchange Commission and modifies provisions relating to various regulated professions. HEALTH INFORMATION ORGANIZATION - 191.236, 191.237, 191.238 This act creates the Missouri Health Information Exchange Commission, which shall have the authority to develop a health information organization approval process. The approval process shall include compliance with commonly and equally applied standards relating to interoperability between approved health information organizations, transparency, financial and operational sustainability, and data security. The Commission shall also develop re-approval and investigational processes. Additionally, this act requires the state to end the practice of conveying "state designated entity" status to any health information organization, as well as requiring the state to cease awarding and funding single feasible source vendor contracts to health information organizations operating within the state. Instead, only approved health information organizations shall be qualified to respond to contracting procurement opportunities. The state shall not restrict the availability of or access to any state agency-sponsored data sets. Finally, this act requires approved health information organizations to exchange standard-based clinical summaries for patients and clinical and claims data from any agency within the state with all other approved health information organizations within the state. Failure to do so shall result in the suspension or revocation of approval status and the immediate termination of any contracts, grants, and any other form of state funding. These provisions are identical to provisions contained in HCS/SCS/SB 107 (2015), HCS/SS/SCS/SB 416 (2015), HCS/SCS/SB 38 (2015), and HCS/SCS/SB 146 (2015). DISPOSITION AND DISINTERMENT OF DEAD BODIES - 194.119, 214.208 This act provides that if a funeral director has knowledge that there are multiple people who have equal priority to choose and control the final disposition of a dead human body and who do not agree on the disposition, then the decision of the majority of the people with equal priority shall control the disposition. The act also states that a person who owns a cemetery is authorized to disinter an individual's remains and rebury or reinter the remains at another location pursuant to written instructions signed and acknowledged by a person who was the next-of kin, as defined in statute, at the time of death. If the next-of-kin at the time of death is no longer living then a majority of certain adult members, as specified in statute, may authorize the disinterment. Currently, cemetery owners are not liable to the deceased person's family for a disinterment, relocation or delivery of deceased human remains performed pursuant to statute. This act provides that cemetery owners, cemetery operators, funeral directors, funeral establishment or any other entity involved in the process shall not be liable in such situations. These provisions are identical to provisions contained in SCS/HCS/HB 618 (2015), and substantially similar to provisions in HCS/SCS/SB 107 (2015). CRITERIA FOR REGULATING PREVIOUSLY UNREGULATED PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS - 324.001, 621.280 This act provides that the state shall not impose a substantial burden on an individual's pursuit of his or her occupation or profession unless there is an important interest for the state to protect the general welfare. If an important interest does exist, then the regulation adopted shall be substantially related to the public interest to be protected. The act establishes certain criteria under which to review all bills purposing to regulate an occupation or profession not previously regulated. If the legislature determines that the state has a compelling interest in regulating the occupation or profession then the least restrictive type of regulation shall be implemented. An applicant group, defined as an organization or individual that proposes that any occupation or profession be regulated, shall submit a written report to the applicable standing committees in the Senate and House of Representatives containing certain information as specified in the act including a definition of the problem and why regulation of the profession is necessary, harm to the public by not regulating the profession and efforts to address the harm caused, alternatives to the regulation, the benefit to the public if the regulation becomes law, and the expected costs of regulation. The act states that practitioners actively engaged in a newly regulated occupation or profession for at least one year prior to the effective date of the regulation statute shall have a property right in their continued legal ability to engage in their occupation or profession. The decision of any newly created board or commission charged with regulating or licensing an occupation or profession to refuse licensure to a pre-existing practitioner shall be in writing, specify the reasons for denial, and inform the practitioner of the right to appeal before the Administrative Hearing Commission. These provisions are identical to provisions contained in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 517 (2015) and substantially similar to provisions contained in HCS/SCS/SB 107 (2015), HCS/SCS/SB 146 (2015) and HCS/HB 634 (2015). COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE ARRANGEMENTS - 334.104 The act states that when a physician reviews pursuant to a collaborative practice arrangement an advanced practice registered nurse's delivery of health care services, which includes chart review, the collaborating physician need not be present at the health care practitioner's site. Current law provides that an advanced practice registered nurse shall practice with the collaborating physician continuously present for one-month before practicing in a setting where the collaborating physician is not continuously present. This act states that this requirement does not apply to collaborative arrangements between a physician and an advanced practice registered nurse if the collaborative physician is new to a patient population to which the collaborating advanced practice registered nurse, assistant physician, or assistant physician is already familiar. These provisions are identical to provisions in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 517 (2015) and similar to provisions contained in HCS/SCS/SB 146 (2015), HCS/SCS/SB 38 (2015), HCS/SB 458 (2015), and HCS/SCS/SB 107 (2015). JESSI BAKER