Sec. 531.902. ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE PILOT PROJECT

(a) The commission shall establish a pilot project in at least one urban area of this state to determine the feasibility, costs, and benefits of exchanging secure electronic health information between the commission and local or regional health information exchanges. The pilot project must include the participation of at least two local or regional health information exchanges.

(b) A local or regional health information exchange selected for the pilot project under this section must possess a functioning health information exchange database that exchanges secure electronic health information among hospitals, clinics, physicians' offices, and other health care providers that are not each owned by a single entity or included in a single operational unit or network. The information exchanged by the local or regional health information exchange must include health information for patients receiving services from state and federal health and human services programs administered by the commission.

(c) In developing the pilot project under this section, the commission shall:

(1) establish specific written guidelines, in conjunction with the health information exchanges participating in the pilot project, to:

(A) ensure that information exchanged through the pilot project is used only for the patient's benefit; and

(B) specify which health care providers will use which data elements obtained from the commission and for what purposes, including purposes related to reducing costs, improving access, and improving quality of care for patients; and

(2) ensure compliance with all state and federal laws and rules related to the transmission of health information, including state privacy laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.) and rules adopted under that Act.

(d) The commission and the health information exchanges participating in the pilot project shall at a minimum exchange a patient's medication history under the pilot project. If the executive commissioner determines that there will be no significant cost to the state, the commission shall apply for and actively pursue any waiver from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that may be necessary for the pilot project and shall actively pursue a waiver to use an electronic alternative to the requirement for handwritten certification of certain drugs under 42 C.F.R. Section 447.152. The pilot project may include additional health care information, either at the inception of the project or as part of a subsequent expansion of the scope of the project.

(e) The pilot project shall initially use the method of secure transmission that is available at the time implementation of the pilot project begins, and subsequently move toward full interoperability in conjunction with the health information exchange system under Section 531.903.

(f) The commission may accept gifts, grants, and donations from any public or private source for the operation of the pilot project.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1120 , Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.