Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3235 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	81R10148 ALB-F
2	2	By: Davis of Harris H.B. No. 3235
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the exchange of secure electronic health information
8	8	between the Health and Human Services Commission and local or
9	9	regional health information exchanges and the development of a
10	10	health passport for Medicaid recipients.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Section 531.02416 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 531.02416. ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE
15	15	PROCEDURES. (a) The commission shall establish procedures for the
16	16	exchange of secure electronic health information between the
17	17	commission and local or regional health information exchanges.
18	18	(b) A local or regional health information exchange that
19	19	exchanges electronic health information under this section must
20	20	possess a functioning health information exchange database that
21	21	exchanges secure electronic health information among hospitals,
22	22	clinics, physicians' offices, and other health care providers that
23	23	are not each owned by a single entity or included in a single
24	24	operational unit or network. The information exchanged by the
25	25	local or regional health information exchange must include health
26	26	information for patients receiving services from state and federal
27	27	health and human services programs administered by the commission.
28	28	(c) In developing procedures under this section, the
29	29	commission shall:
30	30	(1) establish specific written guidelines, in
31	31	conjunction with interested health information exchanges,
32	32	specifying which health care providers will use which data elements
33	33	obtained from the commission and for what purposes, including
34	34	purposes related to reducing costs, improving access, and improving
35	35	quality of care for patients; and
36	36	(2) ensure compliance with all state and federal laws
37	37	and rules related to the transmission of health information,
38	38	including state privacy laws and the Health Insurance Portability
39	39	and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.) and
40	40	rules adopted under that Act.
41	41	(d) The procedures under this section must at a minimum
42	42	address the exchange of a patient's medication history. The
43	43	procedures may also address the exchange of additional health care
44	44	information.
45	45	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
46	46	amended by adding Section 531.096 to read as follows:
47	47	Sec. 531.096. HEALTH PASSPORT. (a) The commission, with
48	48	the assistance of physicians and other health care providers
49	49	experienced with the use of electronic health records, shall
50	50	develop and provide a health passport for each person who:
51	51	(1) is receiving medical assistance under the state
52	52	Medicaid program through a managed care plan, as defined by Section
53	53	533.001; and
54	54	(2) is not provided a health passport under another
55	55	law of this state.
56	56	(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commission is not
57	57	required to provide a health passport for each person described by
58	58	that subsection until September 1, 2014. Beginning as soon as
59	59	feasible after September 1, 2009, the commission shall provide a
60	60	health passport to each child entitled to a health passport under
61	61	Subsection (a), or if initial provision of health passports to all
62	62	children is impossible, to selected categories of children.
63	63	Thereafter, at intervals occurring as soon as possible, the
64	64	commission shall expand the provision of health passports to
65	65	additional children and finally to adults. This subsection expires
66	66	September 1, 2014.
67	67	(b) Information that is accessible through the health
68	68	passport provided under this section must be maintained in an
69	69	electronic format that uses the commission's existing computer
70	70	resources to the greatest extent possible.
71	71	(c) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules specifying
72	72	the information required to be included in the health passport. The
73	73	required information may include:
74	74	(1) the name and address of each of the person's
75	75	physicians and health care providers;
76	76	(2) a record of each visit to a physician or other
77	77	health care provider, including routine checkups;
78	78	(3) an immunization record;
79	79	(4) a list of the person's known health problems and
80	80	allergies;
81	81	(5) information on all medications prescribed to the
82	82	person in adequate detail to permit refills of prescriptions,
83	83	including the disease or condition that each medication treats; and
84	84	(6) any other available health history that physicians
85	85	and other health care providers who provide care for the person
86	86	determine is important.
87	87	(d) The system used to access the health passport must be
88	88	secure and maintain the confidentiality of the person's health
89	89	records. To the extent that this section authorizes the use or
90	90	disclosure of protected health information by a covered entity, as
91	91	those terms are defined by the privacy rule of the Administrative
92	92	Simplification subtitle of the Health Insurance Portability and
93	93	Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-191) contained in 45
94	94	C.F.R. Part 160 and 45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subparts A and E, the
95	95	covered entity shall ensure that the use or disclosure complies
96	96	with all applicable requirements, standards, or implementation
97	97	specifications of the privacy rule.
98	98	(e) The commission shall provide training or instructional
99	99	materials regarding use of a health passport to adults who receive
100	100	health passports, parents, guardians, and caretakers of children
101	101	who receive health passports, physicians, and other health care
102	102	providers.
103	103	(f) The commission shall make health passport information
104	104	available in printed and electronic formats to the following
105	105	individuals when a person loses eligibility for Medicaid, unless
106	106	the commission is required to provide a health passport under
107	107	another program:
108	108	(1) the person, if the person is an adult or a child
109	109	who has had the disabilities of minority removed; or
110	110	(2) the person's parent, legal guardian, or other
111	111	caretaker, if the person is a child.
112	112	(g) The commission shall coordinate the health passports
113	113	and procedures adopted for the Medicaid program under this section
114	114	with the health passport and procedures adopted under Section
115	115	266.006, Family Code, for a child in the foster care system to
116	116	ensure that a child's health passport is transferable between the
117	117	Medicaid program and that system.
118	118	SECTION 3. Section 32.102(b), Human Resources Code, as
119	119	added by Chapter 268 (S.B. 10), Acts of the 80th Legislature,
120	120	Regular Session, 2007, is amended to read as follows:
121	121	(b) If the executive commissioner determines that a need
122	122	exists for the use of health information technology in the medical
123	123	assistance program and that the technology is cost-effective, the
124	124	Health and Human Services Commission may, for the purposes
125	125	prescribed by Subsection (a):
126	126	(1) acquire and implement the technology; or
127	127	(2) evaluate the feasibility of developing and, if
128	128	feasible, develop, the technology through the use or expansion of
129	129	other systems or technologies the commission uses for other
130	130	purposes, including:
131	131	(A) the technologies used in the pilot program
132	132	implemented under Section 531.1063, Government Code; and
133	133	(B) a [the] health passport developed under
134	134	Section 266.006, Family Code, or Section 531.096, Government Code,
135	135	for persons receiving medical assistance not provided a health
136	136	passport under either of those provisions.
137	137	SECTION 4. Not later than the 60th day after the effective
138	138	date of this Act, the Health and Human Services Commission shall
139	139	establish the procedures required under Section 531.02416,
140	140	Government Code, as added by this Act.
141	141	SECTION 5. Not later than December 1, 2010, the Health and
142	142	Human Services Commission shall:
143	143	(1) assess, in conjunction with health information
144	144	exchanges that exchange information under the procedures
145	145	established under Section 531.02416, Government Code, as added by
146	146	this Act, the benefits to the state, patients, and health care
147	147	providers of exchanging secure health information with local or
148	148	regional health information exchanges;
149	149	(2) include, as part of the assessment required by
150	150	Subdivision (1) of this section, a return on investment analysis
151	151	for the guidelines developed under Section 531.02416(c)(1),
152	152	Government Code, as added by this Act; and
153	153	(3) report the commission's findings to the standing
154	154	committees of the senate and house of representatives having
155	155	primary jurisdiction over health and human services issues.
156	156	SECTION 6. If before implementing any provision of this Act
157	157	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
158	158	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
159	159	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
160	160	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
161	161	waiver or authorization is granted.
162	162	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
163	163	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
164	164	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
165	165	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
166	166	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.