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79R13088 UM-F


By:  Uresti, Gonzales                                             H.B. No. 799

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 799:                                    

By:  Gonzales                                                 C.S.H.B. No. 799



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a health passport for foster children.                            
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 264, Family Code, is 
amended by adding Section 264.117 to read as follows:
	Sec. 264.117.  HEALTH PASSPORT.  (a)  The Health and Human 
Services Commission, in conjunction with the department, and with 
the assistance of physicians and other health care providers 
experienced in the care of foster children and children with 
disabilities and with the use of electronic health records, shall 
develop and provide a health passport for each foster child.  The 
passport must be maintained in an electronic format and use the 
commission's and the department's existing computer resources to 
the greatest extent possible.
	(b)  The executive commissioner of the Health and Human 
Services Commission shall adopt rules specifying the information 
required to be included in the passport.  The required information 
may include:
		(1)  the name and address of each of the child's 
physicians and health care providers;
		(2)  a record of each visit to a physician or other 
health care provider, including routine checkups conducted in 
accordance with the Texas Health Steps program;
		(3)  an immunization record that may be exchanged with 
ImmTrac;      
		(4)  a list of the child's known health problems and 
allergies;      
		(5)  information on all medications prescribed to the 
child in adequate detail to permit refill of prescriptions, 
including the disease or condition that the medication treats; and
		(6)  any other available health history that physicians 
and other health care providers who provide care for the child 
determine is important.
	(c)  The system used to access the health passport must be 
secure and maintain the confidentiality of the child's health 
records.
	(d)  Health passport information shall be part of the 
department's record for the child as long as the child remains in 
foster care.
	(e)  The Health and Human Services Commission shall provide 
training or instructional materials to foster parents, physicians, 
and other health care providers regarding use of the health 
passport.
	(f)  The department shall make health passport information 
available in printed and electronic formats to the following 
individuals when a child is discharged from foster care:
		(1)  the child's legal guardian, managing conservator, 
or parent; or 
		(2)  the child, if the child is at least 18 years of age 
or has had the disabilities of minority removed.
	SECTION 2.  Not later than September 1, 2007, the Department 
of Family and Protective Services shall implement the health 
passport required by Section 264.117, Family Code, as added by this 
Act.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.