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

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ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-6-06

HB 858

SHORT TITLE Telehealth Program Development

SB

ANALYST Collard

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$7,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to SB 89, HB 289, HB 303, HB 264, HB 354, SB 90, HB 217, HB 654

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 858 appropriates $3 million from the general fund to DOH for the purpose of devel-

oping and coordinating telehealth clinical service sites and electronic medical records and to

support staffing and training needs at school-based health centers, primary care sites, rural clinics

and urgent care centers statewide and $4 million from the general fund to DOH for the purpose

of funding band connectivity, video equipment, wiring, health information hardware and soft-

ware and installation of telehealth capability at the above sites.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $7 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

House Bill 858 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DOH notes, in FY05, Governor Richardson created a Telehealth Commission to facilitate the

formation of greater public/private partnerships that will be essential to launching technology-

intensive ventures to improve health care delivery, particularly in rural areas. This bill imple-

ments the recommendations of the New Mexico Telehealth Commission.

DOH further states telemedicine is an effective tool to improve the accessibility and quality of

medical services available to rural New Mexicans. It provides a platform for expanding the

availability of medical services that is extensible and cost effective.

Currently, New Mexico does not have a comprehensive statewide telehealth infrastructure to

support efforts currently under way at the DOH Office of School Health to equip, demonstrate

and evaluate the effectiveness of telehealth delivery in a minimum of eight school-based health

centers. The proposed funding strengthens infrastructure demands (ie, connectivity and equip-

ment), and provides needed funding to support the delivery of clinical services in sites appropri-

ately equipped.

OCIO indicates, to ensure coordination, consolidation and consistency among telehealth sites,

compliance to information technology commission rules and standards is imperative. OCIO

oversight will be key to assisting the DOH, the Telehealth Commission and the telehealth sites in

implementing the telehealth program. DOH, the Telehealth Commission and the telehealth sites

should actively engage the general services department in coordinating and consolidating con-

nectivity and infrastructure.

RELATIONSHIP

House Bill 858 relates to Senate Bill 89, and its duplicate, House Bill 217, which appropriate

$460 thousand to the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico (UNM) to work with

the Center for Aging at the University of New Mexico Medical School to develop a network of

community health centers in rural and small urban communities; House Bill 289, which appro-

priates $600 thousand to UNM for the School of Medicine to work with the Corrections Depart-

ment and a network of primary care clinics to continue to develop a model of training and ser-

vice delivery utilizing interactive telemedicine for screening and treatment of chronic medical

diseases in rural and underserved areas of New Mexico; House Bill 303, which appropriates $1

million to UNM for the Health Sciences Center’s telehealth program; House Bills 264 and 654,

which appropriates $50 thousand to UNM for the Center for Development and Disability. This

appropriation would fund infrastructure for an outreach program using telemedicine to provide

training, education, case conferencing and clinical consultation to a network of early intervention

providers, families and children with special needs; House Bill 354 and Senate Bill 90, which

both appropriate $2.4 million to DOH to update patient billing systems, implement electronic

health records and conduct training in primary care clinics eligible to receive funds under the Ru-

ral Primary Health Care Act (RPHCA).

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

OCIO indicates the Health Policy Commission (HPC) reports that “telehealth” is the use of com-

puter technology connected by high-speed or wireless communication to access health care pro-

viders, communicate diagnostic information and find best practice advice and training. New

House Bill 858 – Page

3

Mexico is the fifth largest state, geographically, which means many residents face gaps in health

care access due to the lack of medical and behavioral health specialists in rural areas and dis-

tances they need to travel to receive care. Telehealth attempts to reduce health care disparities

due to a patient’s physical location.

The center for telehealth states its mission as “one of outreach to the rural areas of the state, help-

ing UNM programs and departments deliver their expertise and services to areas of the state

where specialty services and education are difficult to obtain.”

(

http://hsc.unm.edu/telemedicine/Program/AnnualReport.htm

)

OCIO research indicates, according to this annual report, in FY 2005, the center for telehealth

served 4,742 participants including 650 patients. Additionally, the center for telehealth accom-

plished the following activities in FY05:

•

Developed and successfully piloted mobile videoconferencing solution;

•

Developed a comprehensive statewide telehealth training plan;

•

Supported project REACH (Rural Early Access to Children’s Health) in delivering clini-

cal services and continuing education;

•

Developed operational and technical assessments for SBIRT, a statewide behavioral

health network;

•

Installed additional broadband videoconferencing sites at UNM health sciences center

and in rural communities; and

•

Received additional funding to validate Project TOUCH applications and further develop

immersive virtual reality capability.

(

http://hsc.unm.edu/telemedicine/Program/AnnualReport.htm

)

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