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.