SENATE MEMORIAL 105
52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016
INTRODUCED BY
Gerald Ortiz y Pino
A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO CONVENE A "NURSEADVICE NEW MEXICO" TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE NURSE ADVICE SAFETY NET SERVICES FOR MEDICAID ENROLLEES.
WHEREAS, nurse advice lines are valuable telephonic and internet resources for individuals who are concerned about health conditions to obtain answers that help them to address their conditions at home or to seek appropriate care in emergent or non-emergent health care settings; and
WHEREAS, since 2006, NurseAdvice New Mexico has provided families and individuals across the state with nurse advice line services, providing access to registered nurses twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and three hundred sixty-five days a year; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is the first state in the nation to create a web-enabled, fully integrated statewide nurse advice line through a public and private partnership but does not provide a dedicated, permanent funding source for these nurse advice line services; and
WHEREAS, since 2006, the department of health has provided some funding through contracts with NurseAdvice New Mexico for the provision of nurse advice line services for uninsured and under-insured New Mexicans and for disease surveillance services; and
WHEREAS, many New Mexico health care providers, including individual practitioners, hospitals and other entities, routinely refer patients to NurseAdvice New Mexico but do not currently have arrangements with NurseAdvice New Mexico to cover the cost of the nurse advice line services provided; and
WHEREAS, NurseAdvice New Mexico provides triage and referral services to many medicaid recipients statewide, most of whom are enrolled in centennial care managed care organization plans and some of whom are enrolled in "fee-for-service" medicaid; and
WHEREAS, centennial care managed care organizations have their own nurse advice line services that assist these organizations in collecting patient data and providing the care coordination and triage services that they are required to provide to medicaid recipients; and
WHEREAS, both NurseAdvice New Mexico and the proprietary centennial care managed care organization nurse advice lines routinely make referrals to each other's nurse advice line services; and
WHEREAS, proprietary centennial care managed care organization nurse advice lines use a comprehensive medicaid recipient database, or "portal", through the human services department in order to refer medicaid recipients to the appropriate nurse advice line services; and
WHEREAS, NurseAdvice New Mexico does not currently have access to this medicaid recipient portal; and
WHEREAS, NurseAdvice New Mexico is currently experiencing a budgetary shortfall, due in part to those nurse advice line services it provides to medicaid recipients and the general public for which it does not receive compensation;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the human services department be requested to convene a "NurseAdvice New Mexico" task force made up of representatives from the department of health, NurseAdvice New Mexico, the medicaid centennial care managed care organizations, the New Mexico hospital association, the New Mexico primary care association, the New Mexico medical society, the New Mexico osteopathic society, the New Mexico nurses association and the New Mexico behavioral health professional community to discuss ways for NurseAdvice New Mexico to receive the funding it requires to continue to provide safety net referral services for medicaid recipients; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NurseAdvice New Mexico task force be requested to examine the nurse advice line referral practices of New Mexico health care providers, including individual practitioners, hospitals and other entities, and the type of arrangements that will ensure that NurseAdvice New Mexico is reimbursed for the nurse advice line services it provides; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NurseAdvice New Mexico task force be requested to examine what arrangements, including those for data sharing, are needed for medicaid centennial care managed care organizations and the human services department to appropriately reimburse the nurse advice line services that NurseAdvice New Mexico renders to medicaid recipients; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NurseAdvice New Mexico task force be requested to make recommendations for ways in which NurseAdvice New Mexico may obtain access to the medicaid recipient portal in order to make referrals in a timely and accurate manner; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NurseAdvice New Mexico task force be requested to report its progress and findings and recommendations to the legislative health and human services committee by July 15, 2016 and again by November 1, 2016; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of human services, the secretary of health, the chair and vice chair of the legislative health and human services committee, the executive director of NurseAdvice New Mexico, the president and chief executive officer of the New Mexico hospitals association, the executive director of the New Mexico primary care association, the executive director of the New Mexico medical society, the executive director of the New Mexico osteopathic medical association and the executive director of the New Mexico nurses association.
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