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

SPONSOR

Rodella

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/26/02

02/08/07 HB 246/a HHGAC

SHORT TITLE

Polysomnography Licenses & Permits

SB

ANALYST

Hanika Ortiz

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$.01

see narrative

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Regulation & Licensing Department (RLD)

Department of Health (DOH) - stated they do not have the expertise to analyze bill.

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Amendment

The House Health and Government Affairs Committee Amendment clarifies that only a

physician certified in pulmonology shall be invited to sit on the advisory board of respiratory

care practitioners.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 246 amends Section 61-12B-3 NMSA 1978 relating to the Respiratory Care

Practitioner’s Act to include polysomnography-related respiratory care services by various

personnel within sleep disorders centers or laboratories.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no appropriation attached to this legislation.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HB 246 will require sleep laboratory personnel who provide polysomnography-related

House Bill 246/a HHGAC – Page

2

respiratory care procedures have documented training and on-going continuing education, and

are regulated in a manner consistent with requirements for other practitioners providing

respiratory care. Currently, polysomnographic personnel practicing in sleep laboratories are not

regulated and there is no required oversight of such personnel possibly placing patients in those

facilities at risk. Polysomnograhic personnel assess and correct the oxygenation and ventilation

of patients while they sleep.

Polysomnography means the process of analyzing, monitoring and recording physiologic data

during sleep and wakefulness to assist in the assessment and diagnosis of sleep-wake disorders.

Polysomnographic-related respiratory care services are limited to the use of oxygen, noninvasive

ventilatory assistance, pulse oximetry and capnography and provide patient education in

compliance with physician orders.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

RLD will need to promulgate rules to issue, renew and monitor licenses, certificates or permits to

persons qualified to provide polysomnography-related respiratory care services.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

RLD notes that the language in the bill was developed by members of the New Mexico Society

for Respiratory Care who operate sleep labs in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Gallup, and Clovis. HB

246 incorporates language into the Respiratory Care Act that has been approved and enacted by

other state legislatures.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The training and abilities of personnel practicing in sleep labs will continue to be unregulated

posing a health risk for clients seeking assessment of sleep-wake disorders.

AHO/mt