Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB80 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Nelson S.B. No. 80
2	2	(King of Taylor)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to public health laboratories administered by the
8	8	Department of State Health Services.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. (a) In this section:
11	11	(1) "Department" means the Department of State Health
12	12	Services.
13	13	(2) "Laboratory" means a public health laboratory
14	14	administered by the department.
15	15	(b) It is the intent of the legislature that the department
16	16	adopt and implement the recommendations developed by the state
17	17	auditor's office and described in the report "An Audit Report on the
18	18	Department of State Health Services' Public Health Laboratories"
19	19	dated September 2010.
20	20	(c) The department shall:
21	21	(1) resume billing for tests conducted at the South
22	22	Texas Laboratory;
23	23	(2) review and address, as appropriate, unbilled
24	24	activity at the South Texas Laboratory;
25	25	(3) establish and implement a process to review and
26	26	bill for tests at the South Texas Laboratory that have not yet been
27	27	billed;
28	28	(4) establish and implement a process to ensure that
29	29	Medicaid-eligible services are billed within the required time;
30	30	(5) pursue obtaining provider status through the
31	31	United States Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to become
32	32	a Medicare provider;
33	33	(6) perform and document periodic reconciliations
34	34	between the department's billing application and laboratories'
35	35	information applications to ensure that billings are complete and
36	36	correct;
37	37	(7) follow up on and correct all errors identified
38	38	during the reconciliations described by Subdivision (6) of this
39	39	subsection;
40	40	(8) ensure that all laboratory testing records are
41	41	properly recorded and retained in a system with proper security
42	42	controls, supervisory reviews, and backup procedures;
43	43	(9) develop, document, and implement procedures for
44	44	setting fees for laboratory services, including updating and
45	45	implementing a documented cost allocation methodology that
46	46	determines reasonable costs for specific types of tests;
47	47	(10) retain all documentation related to fee setting,
48	48	including the setting of fees for new tests and any modifications to
49	49	existing test fees;
50	50	(11) use a documented methodology to set fees for
51	51	laboratory services;
52	52	(12) analyze the department's costs and update the fee
53	53	schedule as needed in accordance with Subsection (c), Section
54	54	12.032, Health and Safety Code;
55	55	(13) report uncollected accounts receivable balances
56	56	for laboratories at the end of each fiscal year, as required by the
57	57	comptroller of public accounts;
58	58	(14) develop and implement policies and procedures for
59	59	disposing of uncollectable accounts receivable and writing off
60	60	accounts receivable considered uncollectable in compliance with
61	61	the requirements of the office of the attorney general;
62	62	(15) develop and implement policies and procedures for
63	63	informing laboratory test payors of delinquent accounts;
64	64	(16) develop and implement policies and procedures for
65	65	tracking submitter billing statement disputes;
66	66	(17) continue the implementation of the process to
67	67	address submitter billing disputes, including use of the separate
68	68	form for submitters to use when submitting claims for the Texas
69	69	Health Steps program;
70	70	(18) develop and implement a comprehensive inventory
71	71	tracking process for laboratories, including documented policies
72	72	and procedures that include regular inventory counts and
73	73	reconciliations of inventory;
74	74	(19) ensure that laboratories are able to quantify the
75	75	amount of inventory on hand;
76	76	(20) report the amounts of inventory on hand in
77	77	laboratories at the end of each fiscal year in the department's
78	78	annual financial report;
79	79	(21) establish a timeline for completing for
80	80	laboratories a continuity of operations plan that includes
81	81	agreements to outsource critical operations as needed during an
82	82	emergency;
83	83	(22) develop and implement procedures to ensure that
84	84	laboratories establish a plan to protect specimens submitted for
85	85	testing, testing supplies, and laboratory equipment in the event of
86	86	an emergency;
87	87	(23) develop and implement a process to ensure regular
88	88	inspections of laboratories' hazardous materials storage
89	89	buildings;
90	90	(24) develop and implement a process to track access
91	91	to laboratories' inventory storage buildings;
92	92	(25) enhance controls over access to laboratories'
93	93	information management applications;
94	94	(26) develop and implement a process to ensure that
95	95	the policies and procedures for information technology in place at
96	96	the department, including change management and acceptable use
97	97	policies, are communicated and incorporated in the operations of
98	98	laboratories;
99	99	(27) develop and implement a process to ensure that
100	100	installation of software is properly authorized and reviewed before
101	101	installation, in accordance with the department's information
102	102	technology security policy;
103	103	(28) conduct a review of information technology user
104	104	access security to ensure that user access is appropriate and is
105	105	based on each user's job roles and responsibilities;
106	106	(29) develop and implement a process to monitor and
107	107	update user access to the department's information technology
108	108	applications to ensure that access is appropriate and granted only
109	109	to current employees;
110	110	(30) review password controls over laboratory
111	111	information management applications to ensure that appropriate
112	112	password policies have been established on the network and on each
113	113	laboratory application; and
114	114	(31) develop and perform reconciliation procedures,
115	115	including a record total count, to ensure that records are complete
116	116	and accurate prior to the transfer of data to the billing
117	117	application.
118	118	(d) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
119	119	Services Commission may adopt rules as necessary to implement this
120	120	section.
121	121	(e) The department shall submit a report to the governor,
122	122	the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
123	123	representatives, and the legislature on the department's progress
124	124	under this section not later than September 1, 2012.
125	125	(f) This section expires August 31, 2013.
126	126	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
127	127	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
128	128	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
129	129	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
130	130	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.