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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7131
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3940
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE E NTITY ESTABLISHED TO IMPLEMENT
THE PROGRAM EXPEDITI NG DEVELOPMENT OF TH E STATE-WIDE
HEALTH INFORMATION E XCHANGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17b-59g of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) The state, acting by and through the Secretary of the Office of 3
Policy and Management, in collaboration with the executive director of 4
the Office of Health Strategy, shall establish a program to expedite the 5
development of the State-wide Health Information Exchange, 6
established under section 17b-59d, to assist the state, health care 7
providers, insurance carriers, physicians and all stakeholders in 8
empowering consumers to make effective health care decisions, 9
promote patient-centered care, improve the quality, safety and value of 10
health care, reduce waste and duplication of services, support clinical 11
decision-making, keep confidential health information secure and 12
make progress toward the state's public health goals. The purposes of 13
the program shall be to (1) assist the State-wide Health Information 14
Exchange in establishing and maintaining itself as a neutral and 15 Raised Bill No. 7131
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trusted entity that serves the public good for the benefit of all 16
Connecticut residents, including, but not limited to, Connecticut health 17
care consumers and Connecticut health care providers and carriers, (2) 18
perform, on behalf of the state, the role of intermediary between public 19
and private stakeholders and customers of the State-wide Health 20
Information Exchange, and (3) fulfill the responsibilities of the Office 21
of Health Strategy, as described in section 19a-754a. 22
(b) The executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, in 23
consultation with the health information technology officer, 24
designated in accordance with section 19a-754, shall design, and the 25
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, in collaboration 26
with said executive director, may establish or incorporate an entity to 27
implement the program established under subsection (a) of this 28
section. Such entity shall, without limitation, be owned and governed, 29
in whole or in part, by a party or parties other than the state and may 30
be organized as a nonprofit entity. 31
(c) Any entity established or incorporated pursuant to subsection (b) 32
of this section shall have its powers vested in and exercised by a board 33
of directors. The board of directors shall be comprised of at least the 34
following members who shall each serve for a term of two years: 35
(1) One member who shall have expertise as an advocate for 36
consumers of health care, appointed by the Governor; 37
(2) One member who shall have expertise as a clinical medical 38
doctor, appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 39
(3) One member who shall have expertise in the area of hospital 40
administration, appointed by the speaker of the House of 41
Representatives; 42
(4) One member who shall have expertise in the area of corporate 43
law or finance, appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 44
(5) One member who shall have expertise in group health insurance 45 Raised Bill No. 7131
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coverage, appointed by the minority leader of the House of 46
Representatives; 47
(6) The Chief Information Officer and the Secretary of the Office of 48
Policy and Management, or their designees, who shall serve as ex-49
officio, voting members of the board; and 50
(7) The health information technology officer, designated in 51
accordance with section 19a-754a, who shall serve as chairperson and a 52
voting member of the board. 53
(d) Any vacancy in the board of directors shall be filled by the 54
appointing authority for the balance of the unexpired term. If an 55
appointing authority fails to make an initial appointment on or before 56
sixty days after the establishment of such entity, or to fill a vacancy in 57
an appointment on or before sixty days after the date of such vacancy, 58
the Governor shall make such appointment or fill such vacancy. 59
(e) Any entity established or incorporated under subsection (b) of 60
this section may (1) employ a staff and fix their duties, qualifications 61
and compensation; (2) solicit, receive and accept aid or contributions, 62
including money, property, labor and other things of value from any 63
source; (3) receive, and manage on behalf of the state, funding from the 64
federal government, other public sources or private sources to cover 65
costs associated with the planning, implementation and administration 66
of the State-wide Health Information Exchange; (4) collect and remit 67
fees set by the Health Information Technology Officer charged to 68
persons or entities for access to or interaction with said exchange; (5) 69
retain outside consultants and technical experts; (6) maintain an office 70
in the state at such place or places as such entity may designate; (7) 71
procure insurance against loss in connection with such entity's 72
property and other assets in such amounts and from such insurers as 73
such entity deems desirable; (8) sue and be sued and plead and be 74
impleaded; (9) borrow money for the purpose of obtaining working 75
capital; and (10) subject to the powers, purposes and restrictions of 76
sections 17b-59a, 17b-59d, and 17b-59f, do all acts and things necessary 77 Raised Bill No. 7131
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and convenient to carry out the purposes of this section and section 78
19a-754a. 79
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 17b-59g
PH Joint Favorable