23 LC 33 9174
H. B. 9
- 1 -
House Bill 9
By: Representatives Scott of the 76
th
, Davis of the 87
th
, Carter of the 93
rd
, Jones of the 60
th
,
Schofield of the 63
rd
, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
1
relating to general provisions related to governing and regulation of mental health, so as to2
statutorily require the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to3
create, operate, and maintain the Georgia Crisis and Access Line; to provide for definitions;4
to provide certain requirements and functionality of the access line; to provide for behavioral5
health care provider data; to require that the access line support calls with sufficient access6
to behavioral health services and supports; to require any state-operated registry of available7
inpatient psychiatric beds, crisis residential beds, or substance use disorder beds to report8
data for purposes of the access line; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws;9
and for other purposes.10
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:11
SECTION 1.12
Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to13
general provisions related to governing and regulation of mental health, is amended by14
adding a new Code section to read as follows:15
"37-1-8.
16
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:17 23 LC 33 9174
H. B. 9
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(1) 'Access line' means the Georgia Crisis and Access Line maintained and operated18
pursuant to this Code section.19
(2) 'Addictive disease' has the same meaning as in Code Section 37-1-1.20
(3) 'Mental health or substance use disorder' means a mental illness or addictive disease.21
(4) 'Mental illness' has the same meaning as in Code Section 37-1-1.22
(b) Subject to appropriations, the department shall continue to maintain, operate, and make23
available to the public a behavioral health telephone access line known as the Georgia24
Crisis and Access Line. The department may contract for the design, operation, and25
maintenance of the access line.26
(c) The access line shall be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The access line27
shall do all of the following:28
(1) Have the ability to access information related to the availability of services, including29
near real-time access to any registry of available inpatient psychiatric beds, crisis30
residential beds, and substance use disorder beds; provided, however, that individuals31
seeking behavioral health care shall be informed that any such registry data provided to32
an individual may not be accurate and that bed availability is not guaranteed;33
(2) Refer and connect individuals requiring mental health or substance use disorder34
services to mental health professionals, including, but not limited to, community mental35
health services programs and Medicaid providers, using telecommunications and digital36
communications methods commonly in use, such as a telephone call, text message,37
electronic mail, and internet chat;38
(3) Implement practices to comply with all applicable laws respecting individual and39
patient privacy;40
(4) Implement practices to ensure the security of the data collected, in line with industry41
best practices and in compliance with all applicable laws;42 23 LC 33 9174
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(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection, collect data and utilize43
data analytics to track the success of the access line's operations and identify trends in44
service needs and outcomes; and45
(6) Develop and utilize a customer relationship management infrastructure for the access46
line to track, monitor, assign, follow up, and report on access line operations. The47
department shall have operational oversight for, including access to and utilization of, the48
customer relationship management infrastructure. Community mental health services49
programs and Medicaid providers shall be authorized to access the customer relationship50
management infrastructure.51
(d) The Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce shall provide behavioral health care52
provider data to the department. The department may use such data to leverage existing53
databases and other sources of information identifying behavioral health care providers54
providing mental health or substance use disorder treatment and rehabilitation services and55
to utilize the most current provider information available.56
(e) The access line shall be able to support calls with sufficient access to behavioral health57
services and supports in accordance with this title.58
(f) A state-operated registry of available inpatient psychiatric beds, crisis residential beds,59
or substance use disorder beds shall report all data collected for such registry to the60
department or the entity operating or maintaining the access line under contract with the61
department."62
SECTION 2.63
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.64