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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Beffort
DATE TYPED 1/27/05
HB
SHORT TITLE UNM, Bernalillo & Taos Health Info Exchange
SB 162
ANALYST Woods
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY05
FY06
FY05
FY06
$400.0
Recurring General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates HB181
Relates to the appropriation for the University of New Mexico in the General Appropriations
Act.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
New Mexico Health Policy Commission (HPC)
New Mexico Department of Health (DOH)
No Response From
Commission on Higher Education (CHE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 162 – Making an Appropriation for Participation by the University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center in a Health Information Data Exchange in Bernalillo and Taos Counties
– appropriates $400,000 to the board of regents of the University of New Mexico for expenditure
in FY06 for participation by the New Mexico Health Sciences Center in a health information
pg_0002
Senate Bill 162 -- Page 2
data exchange in Bernalillo and Taos counties. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance re-
maining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the general fund.
Significant Issues
DOH indicates that the development of workable health information technology solutions is a
national priority. This pilot project helps to achieve that goal in a number of interrelated areas:
enhancing health care coordination for patients
assisting patients in becoming effective participants in their care
improving care provided by health care professionals (including school health nurses)
providing large employers information on the prevalence of specific chronic conditions
among their employees
creating more comprehensive and accurate health care data to support disease-specific re-
search and policy development.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
DOH indicates that SB162 relates to DOH Strategic Plan, Program Area 1, Objective 6: To pre-
vent and control chronic disease. It also relates to Program Area 2, Strategic direction: to im-
prove access to health care.
DOH further notes that if a health information data exchange becomes a reality in New Mexico,
patients and providers would have access to improved information to better manage their care,
while the state would have greater access to accurate information on which to base health policy
decisions.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
DOH suggests that the exchange of information between these three groups may require the pur-
chase of network infrastructure equipment for the transmission of information; software to en-
sure the information is encrypted and secure; and costs associated with information technology
support staff.
The appropriation of $400,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the gen-
eral fund.
This program was not included in the CHE’s 2005-2006 Higher Education Funding Recommen-
dation.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The University of New Mexico, Health Sciences Center will retain oversight of this program.
pg_0003
Senate Bill 162 -- Page 3
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Duplicates HB181
Relates to the appropriation for UNM in the General Appropriations Act.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
HPC raises the following discussion items with respect to the implementation of SB162:
There is no language in SB 162 to define what is included in “health information”.
It is not clear from SB 162 which entities would be exchanging the health information.
SB 162 is not specific as to how the appropriation of $400,000 will be used in the data
exchange. Entities other than UNM involved in the data exchange may have specific
monetary needs that could be accounted for in SB 162.
SB 162 does not explain the usage of the data that would be exchanged. This may be im-
portant for determining if such an exchange can legally take place or if other measures
will be necessary to complete before an exchange can take place.
BFW/sb