Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2792 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Darby, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Alvarado) H.B. No. 2792
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2021;
3		-	May 6, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
4		-	Human Services; May 20, 2021, reported favorably by the following
5		-	vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 20, 2021, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	87R17250 MCF-F
	2	+	By: Darby, Guillen, Price, Rogers, et al. H.B. No. 2792
7	3
8	4
9	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	6		AN ACT
11	7		relating to a pilot project to provide emergency telemedicine
12	8		medical services and telehealth services in rural areas.
13	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	10		SECTION 1. Chapter 771, Health and Safety Code, is amended
15	11		by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
16	12		SUBCHAPTER F. NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1 TELEMEDICINE MEDICAL SERVICES
17	13		AND TELEHEALTH SERVICES PILOT PROJECT
18	14		Sec. 771.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
19	15		(1) "Center" means the area health education center at
20	16		the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center that meets the
21	17		requirements of 42 U.S.C. Section 294a and has been awarded federal
22	18		funding as an area health education center.
23	19		(2) "Emergency medical services" means services used
24	20		to respond to an individual's perceived need for immediate medical
25	21		care and to prevent death or aggravation of physiological or
26	22		psychological illness or injury.
27	23		(3) "Emergency medical services provider" means a
28	24		person who uses or maintains emergency medical services vehicles,
29	25		medical equipment, and emergency medical services personnel to
30	26		provide emergency medical services.
31	27		(4) "Emergency prehospital care" means care provided
32	28		to a sick or injured individual before or during transportation of
33	29		the individual to a medical facility, and includes any necessary
34	30		stabilization of the individual in connection with that
35	31		transportation.
36	32		(5) "Pilot project" means a pilot project established
37	33		under Section 771.152.
38	34		(6) "Regional trauma resource center" means a trauma
39	35		facility the center selects to participate in the pilot project.
40	36		(7) "Rural area" means:
41	37		(A) a county with a population of 50,000 or less;
42	38		or
43	39		(B) a large, isolated, and sparsely populated
44	40		area of a county with a population of more than 50,000.
45	41		(8) "Telehealth service" and "telemedicine medical
46	42		service" have the meanings assigned by Section 111.001, Occupations
47	43		Code.
48	44		(9) "Trauma facility" means a health care facility
49	45		equipped and staffed to provide comprehensive treatment of
50	46		seriously injured individuals as part of an emergency medical
51	47		services and trauma care system.
52	48		Sec. 771.152. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROJECT. (a) The
53	49		commission, with the assistance of the center, shall establish a
54	50		pilot project to provide emergency medical services instruction and
55	51		emergency prehospital care instruction through a telemedicine
56	52		medical service or telehealth service provided by regional trauma
57	53		resource centers to:
58	54		(1) health care providers in rural area trauma
59	55		facilities; and
60	56		(2) emergency medical services providers in rural
61	57		areas.
62	58		(b) The commission shall provide technical assistance to
63	59		the center in implementing the pilot project.
64	60		(c) The center, with the assistance of the commission,
65	61		shall:
66	62		(1) design criteria and protocols for each
67	63		telemedicine medical service or telehealth service offered and the
68	64		related instruction and provide the oversight necessary to conduct
69	65		the pilot project;
70	66		(2) define criteria to determine when a telemedicine
71	67		medical service or telehealth service that provides instruction for
72	68		emergency medical services, emergency prehospital care, and trauma
73	69		care should be transferred to an emergency medical resource center
74	70		for intervention; and
75	71		(3) collect the data necessary to evaluate the
76	72		project.
77	73		(d) The center may make available appropriate resources for
78	74		individuals who do not speak English.
79	75		Sec. 771.153. PERSONNEL. The center shall provide the
80	76		telemedicine medical service or telehealth service and related
81	77		instruction for the pilot project through health care providers in
82	78		regional trauma resource centers, including physicians,
83	79		pharmacists, emergency medical personnel, and other health
84	80		professionals.
85	81		Sec. 771.154. PARTICIPATION IN PILOT PROJECT. (a) The
86	82		center shall determine the trauma facilities and emergency medical
87	83		services providers interested in participating in the pilot
88	84		project.
89	85		(b) A trauma facility or emergency medical services
90	86		provider participating in the pilot project must agree to
91	87		successfully complete any required training and to provide all
92	88		reports required by the center for the project.
93	89		Sec. 771.155. SELECTION OF PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND
94	90		REGIONAL TRAUMA RESOURCE CENTERS. (a) The center, with the
95	91		assistance of the commission, may select trauma facilities and
96	92		emergency medical services providers to participate in the pilot
97	93		project and select trauma facilities to serve as regional trauma
98	94		resource centers.
99	95		(b) The center may not select a trauma facility to
100	96		participate in the pilot project or to serve as a regional trauma
101	97		resource center unless the facility:
102	98		(1) has a quality assurance program that measures each
103	99		health care provider's compliance with the medical protocol;
104	100		(2) uses emergency medical services and emergency
105	101		prehospital care protocols approved by a physician medical director
106	102		knowledgeable in emergency medical services and emergency
107	103		prehospital care;
108	104		(3) has experience in providing emergency medical
109	105		services and emergency prehospital care that the center determines
110	106		is sufficient; and
111	107		(4) has resources sufficient to provide the additional
112	108		telemedicine medical services or telehealth services and related
113	109		instruction required for the project in addition to the health care
114	110		services already provided by the facility.
115	111		(c) In selecting a trauma facility to serve as a regional
116	112		trauma resource center, the center shall consider the facility
117	113		personnel's ability to maintain records and produce reports to
118	114		measure the effectiveness of the pilot project. The center shall
119	115		share information regarding that ability with the commission.
120	116		Sec. 771.156. FUNDING OF PILOT PROJECT. (a) Money
121	117		collected under Section 771.072(f) may be appropriated to the
122	118		commission to fund the pilot project.
123	119		(b) The center may seek grants to fund the pilot project.
124	120		(c) A political subdivision with a trauma facility that
125	121		participates in the pilot project may pay part of the costs of the
126	122		project.
127	123		(d) If a sufficient number of political subdivisions in a
128	124		region that may be served by the pilot project agree to pay the
129	125		center an amount that together with other funding received under
130	126		this section is sufficient to fund the project for the region, the
131	127		center shall:
132	128		(1) contract with the political subdivisions for each
133	129		to pay an appropriate share of the cost; and
134	130		(2) implement the project for the region when the
135	131		amounts agreed to in the contracts and any other funding received
136	132		under this section are sufficient to fund the project for the
137	133		region.
138	134		Sec. 771.157. REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The center, in
139	135		cooperation with the commission, shall report its findings to the
140	136		governor and the presiding officer of each house of the
141	137		legislature, not later than December 31, 2026.
142	138		Sec. 771.158. LIABILITY. The operations of the center and a
143	139		regional trauma resource center are considered to be the provision
144	140		of 9-1-1 services for purposes of Section 771.053. Employees of and
145	141		volunteers at the regional trauma resource center have the same
146	142		protection from liability as a member of the governing body of a
147	143		public agency under Section 771.053.
148	144		Sec. 771.159. WORK GROUP. (a) The center may appoint a
149	145		project work group to assist the center in developing,
150	146		implementing, and evaluating the pilot project and preparing a
151	147		report on the center's findings.
152	148		(b) A member of the work group is not entitled to
153	149		compensation for serving on the project work group and may not be
154	150		reimbursed for travel or other expenses incurred while conducting
155	151		the business of the project work group.
156	152		(c) The project work group is not subject to Chapter 2110,
157	153		Government Code.
158	154		Sec. 771.160. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires
159	155		September 1, 2027.
160	156		SECTION 2. Section 771.072(g), Health and Safety Code, is
161	157		amended to read as follows:
162	158		(g) Notwithstanding any other law, revenue derived from the
163	159		equalization surcharge imposed under this section may be
164	160		appropriated to the commission only for the purposes described by
165	161		Section 771.156 and Sections 773.122 through 773.124.
166	162		SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
167		-	* * * * *