ARIZONA STATE SENATE
RESEARCH STAFF
TO: MEMBERS OF THE SENATE
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
COMMITTEE
DATE: March 24, 2025
SUBJECT: Strike everything amendment to H.B.2434, relating to interoperability grants;
health care; appropriation
Purpose
Continues, for FYs 2026, 2027 and 2028, the requirement that the Arizona Department of
Administration (ADOA) administer a competitive grant program that provides a single company
that licenses an interoperability software technology solution to support acute care for rural
hospitals, health care providers and trauma centers with resources to further treatment and care
coordination with a focus on reducing public and private health care costs and unnecessary
transportation costs. Appropriates $6,000,000 from the state General Fund (state GF) in FY 2026
to ADOA for the grant program.
Background
In 2023, the Legislature made a one-time appropriation of $3,000,000 from the state GF to
ADOA to establish a competitive grant program that provides a single company that licenses an
interoperability software technology solution to support acute care for rural hospitals, health care
providers and trauma centers with resources to further treatment and care coordination with a focus
on reducing public and private health care costs and unnecessary transportation costs. The grant
program must enable the implementation of a single licensed interoperability software technology
solution that is shared by hospitals and health care providers to benefit patients, before and after
discharge from the provider's care, and that is accessible to current and future providers via a
mobile, native smartphone application. The software must be made available to rural hospitals,
health care providers and trauma centers that wish to participate by enabling a hospital's electronic
medical records system to interface with interoperability technology and other electronic medical
records systems and providers to promote mobile connectivity between hospital systems and
facilitate increased communication between hospital staff and providers that use different or
distinctive online and mobile platforms and information systems when treating acute patients. The
interoperability software technology solution and grant applicant must meet outlined requirements
to be eligible for a grant (Laws 2023, Ch.133 and 139).
The strike-everything amendment to H.B. 2434 appropriates $6,000,000 from the state GF
in FY 2026 to ADOA.
Provisions
1. Requires ADOA, for FYs 2026, 2027 and 2028, to administer a competitive grant program that
provides a single company that licenses an interoperability software technology solution to
support acute care for rural hospitals, health care providers and trauma centers with resources
to further treatment and care coordination with a focus on reducing public and private health
care costs and unnecessary transportation costs.
MICHAEL MADDEN
LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Telephone: (602) 926-3171 STRIKER MEMO
H.B. 2434
Page 2
2. Requires ADOA to award the grant by December 1, 2025.
3. Directs the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to work with ADOA
to supplement the grant monies by identifying and applying to receive federal matching
monies.
4. Requires the grant program to enable the implementation of a single licensed interoperability
software technology solution that is shared by hospitals and health care providers to benefit
patients, before and after discharge from the provider's care, and that is accessible to current
and future providers via a mobile, native smartphone application.
5. Requires the software to be made available to rural hospitals, health care providers and trauma
centers that wish to participate by enabling a hospital's electronic medical records system to
interface with interoperability technology and other electronic medical records systems and
providers to promote mobile connectivity between hospital systems and facilitate increased
communication between hospital staff and providers that use different or distinctive online and
mobile platforms and information systems when treating acute patients.
6. Directs ADOA to award one grant for an interoperability software technology solution that, at
a minimum:
a) complies with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
privacy standards;
b) captures and forwards clinical data, including laboratory results and images, and provides
synchronous patient clinical data to health care providers regardless of geographic location;
c) provides a synchronous data exchange, that is not batched or delayed, at the point the
clinical data is captured and available in the hospital's electronic record system;
d) is capable of providing proactive alerts to health care providers on their smartphones or a
smart device;
e) allows synchronous and asynchronous communication via a native smartphone application;
f) is mobile technology, can be used on multiple electronic devices and includes the industry
standard built-in application for the two most popular operating systems and a built-in
application available to all users;
g) has patient-centric communication and is tracked with date and time stamping;
h) is connected to the appropriate physician resources; and
i) provides data to update cost reports to enhance emergency triage and to treat and transport
patients.
7. Requires the grant recipient to demonstrate:
a) that its interoperability software technology solution meets all requirements at least 30 days
before applying for the grant; and
b) proof of veteran employment.
8. Requires, for FYs 2026, 2027 and 2028, the grant recipient to provide ADOA a report that
provides metrics and quantifies cost and time savings for using an interoperable software
solution in health care that complies with HIPAA privacy standards. STRIKER MEMO
H.B. 2434
Page 3
9. Directs ADOA, by June 30 of each year, in coordination with AHCCCS, to provide a report
on the allocation of grant funding and compiled analysis of the reports provided by the grant
recipient to the:
a) President of the Senate;
b) Speaker of the House of Representatives;
c) Chairpersons of the Health and Human Services Committees of the Senate and House of
Representatives;
d) Director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee; and
e) Director of the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting.
10. Specifies that monies appropriated for the grant program in the FY 2024 General
Appropriations Act do not affect monies appropriated in FY 2023 for interoperability software
technology solutions or any grant awarded to or contract with a grant recipient.
11. Appropriates $6,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2026 to ADOA for the grant program.
12. Exempts the appropriation from lapsing.
13. Defines terms.
14. Repeals the grant program on January 1, 2029.
15. Becomes effective on the general effective date.