Amend SB 1536 by adding the following appropriately numbered
SECTIONS and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill
accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 531.02171 and 531.02172 to read as
follows:
Sec. 531.02171. TELEMEDICINE MEDICAL SERVICES AND TELEHEALTH
SERVICES PILOT PROGRAMS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Health professional" means:
(A) a physician;
(B) an individual who is licensed or certified
in this state to perform health care services and who is authorized
to assist a physician in providing telemedicine medical services
that are delegated and supervised by the physician; or
(C) a licensed or certified health professional
acting within the scope of the license or certification who does
not perform a telemedicine medical service.
(2) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice
medicine in this state under Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code.
(3) "Telehealth service" has the meaning assigned by
Section 57.042, Utilities Code.
(4) "Telemedicine medical service" has the meaning
assigned by Section 57.042, Utilities Code.
(b) The commission shall establish pilot programs in
designated areas of this state under which the commission, in
administering government-funded health programs, may reimburse a
health care professional participating in the pilot program for
telemedicine medical services or telehealth services authorized
under the licensing law applicable to the health care professional.
Each pilot program established before January 1, 2003, must provide
services in areas of this state that are not more than 150 miles
from the border between this state and the United Mexican States.
(c) In developing and operating a pilot program under this
section, the commission shall:
(1) solicit and obtain support for the program from
local officials and the medical community;
(2) focus on enhancing health outcomes in the area
served by the pilot program through increased access to medical or
health care services, including:
(A) health screenings;
(B) prenatal care;
(C) medical or surgical follow-up visits;
(D) periodic consultation with specialists
regarding chronic disorders;
(E) triage and pretransfer arrangements; and
(F) transmission of diagnostic images or data;
(3) establish quantifiable measures and expected
health outcomes for each authorized telemedicine medical service or
telehealth service;
(4) consider condition-specific applications of
telemedicine medical services or telehealth services, including
applications for:
(A) pregnancy;
(B) diabetes;
(C) heart disease; and
(D) cancer; and
(5) demonstrate that the provision of services
authorized as telemedicine medical services or telehealth services
will not adversely affect the delivery of traditional medical
services or other health care services within the area served by
the pilot program.
Sec. 531.02172. TELEMEDICINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The
commissioner shall establish an advisory committee to assist the
commission in:
(1) evaluating policies for telemedical consultations
under Section 531.0217;
(2) evaluating policies for telemedicine medical
service or telehealth service pilot programs established under
Section 531.02171;
(3) ensuring the efficient and consistent development
and use of telecommunication technology for telemedical
consultations and telemedicine medical services or telehealth
services reimbursed under government-funded health programs;
(4) monitoring the type of programs receiving
reimbursement under Sections 531.0217 and 531.02171; and
(5) coordinating the activities of state agencies
concerned with the use of telemedical consultations and
telemedicine medical services or telehealth services.
(b) The advisory committee must include:
(1) representatives of health and human services
agencies and other state agencies concerned with the use of
telemedical consultations in the Medicaid program and the state
child health plan program, including representatives of:
(A) the commission;
(B) the Texas Department of Health;
(C) the Center for Rural Health Initiatives;
(D) the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund
Board;
(E) the Texas Department of Insurance;
(F) the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners;
(G) the Board of Nurse Examiners; and
(H) the Texas State Board of Pharmacy;
(2) representatives of health science centers in this
state;
(3) experts on telemedicine, telemedical consultation,
and telemedicine medical services; and
(4) representatives of consumers of health services
provided through telemedical consultations and telemedicine medical
services.
(c) A member of the advisory committee serves at the will of
the commissioner.
SECTION ____. Section 57.042, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (11) and adding Subdivision (12) to read as
follows:
(11) "Telehealth service" means a health service,
other than a telemedicine medical service, delivered by a licensed
or certified health professional acting within the scope of the
health professional's license or certification who does not perform
a telemedicine medical service that requires the use of advanced
telecommunications technology, other than by telephone or
facsimile, including:
(A) compressed digital interactive video, audio,
or data transmission;
(B) clinical data transmission using computer
imaging by way of still-image capture and store and forward; and
(C) other technology that facilitates access to
health care services or medical specialty expertise.
(12) "Telemedicine medical service" means a health
care service initiated by a physician or provided by a health
professional acting under physician delegation and supervision, for
purposes of patient assessment by a health professional, diagnosis
or consultation by a physician, treatment, or the transfer of
medical data, that requires the use of advanced telecommunications
technology, other than by telephone or facimile, including:
(A) compressed digital interactive video, audio,
or data transmission;
(B) clinical data transmission using computer
imaging by way of still-image capture and store and forward; and
(C) other technology that facilitates access to
health care services or medical specialty expertise<:>
<(A) means medical services delivered by
telecommunications technologies to rural or underserved public
not-for-profit health care facilities or primary health care
facilities in collaboration with an academic health center and an
associated teaching hospital or tertiary center or with another
public not-for-profit health care facility; and>
<(B) includes consultive services, diagnostic
services, interactive video consultation, teleradiology,
telepathology, and distance education for working health care
professionals>.
SECTION ____. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 57.047,
Utilities Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board may award a grant to a project or proposal
that:
(1) provides equipment and infrastructure necessary
for:
(A) distance learning;
(B) an information sharing program of a library;
<or>
(C) telemedicine medical services; or
(D) telehealth services;
(2) develops and implements the initial or
prototypical delivery of a course or other distance learning
material;
(3) trains teachers, faculty, librarians, or
technicians in the use of distance learning or information sharing
materials and equipment;
(4) develops a curriculum or instructional material
specially suited for telecommunications delivery;
(5) provides electronic information; or
(6) establishes or carries out an information sharing
program.
(b) The board may award a loan to a project or proposal to
acquire equipment needed for distance learning and telemedicine
medical service projects.
SECTION ____. Subchapter C, Chapter 57, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 57.0471 to read as follows:
Sec. 57.0471. GRANTS TO CERTAIN HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. A
physician, health care professional, or health care facility
providing telemedicine medical services or telehealth services and
participating in a pilot program under Section 531.02171,
Government Code, is eligible to receive a grant under Section
57.047.
SECTION ____. Subsection (h), Section 531.0217, Government
Code, is repealed.
SECTION ____. (a) Not later than December 31, 2001, the
commissioner of health and human services shall establish the
telemedicine advisory committee as required by Section 531.02172,
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2003, the telemedicine
advisory committee established under Section 531.02172, Government
Code, as added by this Act, shall prepare a report relating to the
implementation of the pilot programs established under Section
531.02171, Government Code, as added by this Act, and shall provide
the report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the
house of representatives, and appropriate standing committees of
the senate and house of representatives.
SECTION ____. The advisory committee established under
Subsection (h), Section 531.0217, Government Code, is abolished on
the effective date of this Act.