Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2004 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		84R18585 LED-F
2		-	By: Darby, Zerwas H.B. No. 2004
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2004:
4		-	By: Crownover C.S.H.B. No. 2004
	2	+	By: Darby, Zerwas, Guillen H.B. No. 2004
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to a pilot project to provide emergency telemedicine
10	8		medical services in rural areas.
11	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	10		SECTION 1. Chapter 771, Health and Safety Code, is amended
13	11		by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
14	12		SUBCHAPTER F. NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1 TELEMEDICINE MEDICAL SERVICES
15	13		PILOT PROJECT
16	14		Sec. 771.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
17	15		(1) "Center" means the area health education center at
18	16		the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center that meets the
19	17		requirements of 42 U.S.C. Section 294a and has received federal
20	18		funding as an area health education center.
21	19		(2) "Emergency medical services" means services used
22	20		to respond to an individual's perceived need for immediate medical
23	21		care and to prevent death or aggravation of physiological or
24	22		psychological illness or injury.
25	23		(3) "Emergency medical services provider" means a
26	24		person who uses or maintains emergency medical services vehicles,
27	25		medical equipment, and emergency medical services personnel to
28	26		provide emergency medical services.
29	27		(4) "Emergency prehospital care" means care provided
30	28		to the sick or injured before or during transportation to a medical
31	29		facility, and includes any necessary stabilization of the sick or
32	30		injured in connection with that transportation.
33	31		(5) "Regional trauma resource center" means a trauma
34	32		facility that the center selects to participate in the project.
35	33		(6) "Rural area" means:
36	34		(A) a county with a population of 50,000 or less;
37	35		or
38	36		(B) a large, isolated, and sparsely populated
39	37		area of a county with a population of more than 50,000.
40	38		(7) "Telemedicine medical service" means a health care
41	39		service that is initiated by a physician or provided by a health
42	40		professional acting under physician delegation and supervision,
43	41		that is provided for purposes of patient assessment by a health
44	42		professional, diagnosis or consultation by a physician, or
45	43		treatment, or for the transfer of medical data, and that requires
46	44		the use of advanced telecommunications technology, other than
47	45		telephone or facsimile technology, including:
48	46		(A) compressed digital interactive video, audio,
49	47		or data transmission;
50	48		(B) clinical data transmission using computer
51	49		imaging by way of still-image capture and store and forward; and
52	50		(C) other technology that facilitates access to
53	51		health care services or medical specialty expertise.
54	52		(8) "Trauma facility" means a health care facility
55	53		that is capable of comprehensive treatment of seriously injured
56	54		persons and is a part of an emergency medical services and trauma
57	55		care system.
58	56		Sec. 771.152. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROJECT. (a) The
59	57		commission, with the assistance of the center, shall establish a
60	58		pilot project to provide emergency medical services instruction and
61	59		emergency prehospital care instruction through a telemedicine
62	60		medical service provided by regional trauma resource centers to:
63	61		(1) health care providers in rural area trauma
64	62		facilities; and
65	63		(2) emergency medical services providers in rural
66	64		areas.
67	65		(b) The commission shall provide technical assistance to
68	66		the center in implementing the pilot project.
69	67		(c) The center, with the assistance of the commission,
70	68		shall:
71	69		(1) design criteria and protocols for the telemedicine
72	70		medical service and related instruction and provide the oversight
73	71		necessary to conduct the pilot project;
74	72		(2) define criteria to determine when telemedicine
75	73		medical services that provide instructions for emergency medical
76	74		services, emergency prehospital care, and trauma care should be
77	75		transferred to an emergency medical resource center for
78	76		intervention; and
79	77		(3) collect the data necessary to evaluate the
80	78		project.
81	79		(d) The center may make available appropriate resources for
82	80		individuals who do not speak English.
83	81		Sec. 771.153. STAFF. The center shall provide the
84	82		telemedicine medical service and related instruction for the pilot
85	83		project through health care providers in regional trauma resource
86	84		centers, including physicians, pharmacists, emergency medical
87	85		personnel, and other health professionals acting under physician
88	86		delegation and supervision.
89	87		Sec. 771.154. PARTICIPATION IN PILOT PROJECT. (a) The
90	88		center shall determine the trauma facilities and emergency medical
91	89		services providers that are interested in participating in the
92	90		pilot project.
93	91		(b) A trauma facility or emergency medical services
94	92		provider participating in the pilot project must agree to
95	93		successfully complete any required training and to provide all
96	94		reports required by the center for the project.
97	95		Sec. 771.155. SELECTION OF PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND
98	96		REGIONAL TRAUMA RESOURCE CENTERS. (a) The center, with the
99	97		assistance of the commission, may select trauma facilities and
100	98		emergency medical services providers to participate in the pilot
101	99		project and select trauma facilities to serve as regional trauma
102	100		resource centers.
103	101		(b) A trauma facility may not be selected to participate in
104	102		the project or to serve as a regional trauma resource center unless
105	103		the facility:
106	104		(1) has a quality assurance program that measures each
107	105		health care provider's compliance with the medical protocol;
108	106		(2) uses emergency medical services and emergency
109	107		prehospital care protocols approved by a physician medical director
110	108		knowledgeable in emergency medical services and emergency
111	109		prehospital care;
112	110		(3) has experience in providing emergency medical
113	111		services and emergency prehospital care that the center determines
114	112		is sufficient; and
115	113		(4) has resources sufficient to provide the additional
116	114		telemedicine medical services and related instruction required for
117	115		the pilot project in addition to the health care services already
118	116		provided by the facility.
119	117		(c) In selecting a trauma facility to serve as a regional
120	118		trauma resource center, the center shall consider the facility
121	119		personnel's ability to maintain records and produce reports to
122	120		measure the effectiveness of the pilot project. The center shall
123	121		share information regarding that ability with the commission.
124	122		Sec. 771.156. FUNDING OF PILOT PROJECT. (a) Money
125	123		collected under Section 771.072(f) may be appropriated to the
126	124		commission to fund the pilot project.
127	125		(b) The center may seek grants to fund the pilot project.
128	126		(c) A political subdivision with a trauma facility that
129	127		participates in the pilot project may pay part of the costs of the
130	128		pilot project.
131	129		(d) If a sufficient number of political subdivisions in a
132	130		region that may be served by the pilot project agree to pay the
133	131		center an amount that together with other funding received under
134	132		this section is sufficient to fund the pilot project for the region,
135	133		the center shall:
136	134		(1) contract with the political subdivisions for each
137	135		to pay an appropriate share of the cost; and
138	136		(2) implement the project for the region when the
139	137		amounts agreed to in the contracts and any other funding received
140	138		under this section are sufficient to fund the project for the
141	139		region.
142	140		Sec. 771.157. REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The center, in
143	141		cooperation with the commission, shall report its findings to the
144	142		governor and the presiding officer of each house of the
145	143		legislature, not later than December 31, 2020.
146	144		Sec. 771.158. LIABILITY. The operations of the center and a
147	145		regional trauma resource center are considered to be the provision
148	146		of 9-1-1 services for purposes of Section 771.053. Employees of and
149	147		volunteers at the regional trauma resource center have the same
150	148		protection from liability as a member of the governing body of a
151	149		public agency under Section 771.053.
152	150		Sec. 771.159. WORK GROUP. (a) The center may appoint a
153	151		project work group to assist the center in developing,
154	152		implementing, and evaluating the project and preparing a report on
155	153		the center's findings.
156	154		(b) A member of the work group is not entitled to
157	155		compensation for serving on the project work group and may not be
158	156		reimbursed for travel or other expenses incurred while conducting
159	157		the business of the project work group.
160	158		(c) The project work group is not subject to Chapter 2110,
161	159		Government Code.
162	160		Sec. 771.160. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires January
163	161		1, 2021.
164	162		SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.