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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Picraux

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/26/06

1/26/06 HB 217

SHORT TITLE Geriatric Disorder Telemedicine Program

SB

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$460.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates Senate Bill 89

Relates to Senate Bill 126 and House Bill 157

Relates to Appropriation in House Bill 2

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Heath (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

UNM Health Sciences Center

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 217, sponsored by Representative Picraux on behalf of the interim Legislative Health

and Human Services Committee, appropriates $460,000 from the general fund to the University

of New Mexico (UNM) Board of Regents. These funds are to be used by the UNM Center on

Aging to develop a network of community health centers in rural and small urban communities

to utilize an existing program of interactive telemedicine for assessment, diagnosis and treatment

of geriatric disorders.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $460,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

House Bill 217 – Page

2

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included on the priority list for expansion of special programs submitted

by the UNM Board of Regents to the Higher Education Department (HED) for review. Conse-

quently, this request was not included in HED’s funding recommendation for FY07.

Information provided through UNMHSC indicates that the appropriation would be used to de-

velop and support geriatric service sites at five or six community health centers around the state.

These sites would be linked via the ECHO Telehealth System to the UNM Center on Aging for

consultation on difficult health and dementia problems.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The UNM Health Sciences Center would be responsible for administering the funded appropri-

ated via this legislation. No significant additional administrative impact is evident.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Senate Bill 89 and House Bill 217 are duplicate measures.

This bill is generally related to Senate Bill126 and House Bill 157. These are duplicate bills that

establish a southern New Mexico Center on Aging at New Mexico State University.

This bill is related to a recurring line-item appropriation in House Bill 2 for the Telemedicine

Program at the UNMHSC.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Department of Health notes that this bill proposes to utilize an existing program of interac-

tive telemedicine (UNM’s “ECHO Telehealth System) for assessment, diagnosis and treatment

of geriatric disorders. Community health centers in rural and remote areas of New Mexico are

often isolated from state-of-the-art medical diagnosis and consultation regarding many health

issues. Telemedicine provides the opportunity to improve health care in rural areas of the state

through the use of video conferencing equipment. Telemedicine is currently being incorporated

into the management of hepatitis C in selected clinics around the state.

DE/yr