Sec. 12.0115. INTEGRATION OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY PROGRAMS

(a) In this section, "health care delivery programs" includes the department's primary health care services program, its program to improve maternal and infant health, its services for chronically ill and disabled children, any aspects of health care delivery under the state Medicaid program assigned to the department by law or by the Health and Human Services Commission, and the part of any other department program concerned with the department's responsibility for the delivery of health care services.

(b) The department shall integrate the functions of its different health care delivery programs to the maximum extent possible, including integrating the functions of health care delivery programs that are part of the state Medicaid program with functions of health care delivery programs that are not part of the state Medicaid program.

(c) At a minimum, the department's integration of the functions of its different health care delivery programs must include the integration within and across the programs of:

(1) the development of health care policy;

(2) the delivery of health care services, to the extent appropriate for the recipients of the health care services; and

(3) to the extent possible, the administration of contracts with providers of health care services, particularly providers who concurrently provide health care services under more than one contract or program with the department.

(d) One of the primary goals of the department in integrating the delivery of health care services for the benefit of recipients shall be providing for continuity of care for individuals and families, accomplished to the extent possible by providing an individual or family with a medical home that serves as the primary initial health care provider.

(e) One of the primary goals of the department in integrating the administration of its contracts with providers of health care services shall be designing an integrated contract administration system that reduces the administrative and paperwork burden on providers while still providing the department with the information it needs to effectively administer the contracts. The department's integration of contract administration must include:

(1) the integration of the initial procurement process within and across programs, at least in part by efficiently combining requests for bids or proposals within or across programs to the extent it reduces the administrative burden for providers;

(2) the establishment of uniform contract terms, including:

(A) contract terms that require information from providers, or that prescribe performance standards for providers, that could be made uniform within or across programs while remaining effective as contract terms;

(B) the establishment of a procedure under which a contractor or a person responding to a request for bids or proposals may supply the department with requested information whenever possible by referencing current and correct information previously supplied to and on file with the department; and

(C) contract terms regarding incentives for contractors to meet or exceed contract requirements;

(3) the integration of contract monitoring, particularly with regard to monitoring providers that deliver health services for the department under more than one contract or under more than one department program; and

(4) the integration of reimbursement methods:

(A) particularly for a provider that delivers health services for the department under more than one contract or under more than one department program; and

(B) including the application across programs of the most effective and efficient reimbursement technologies or methods that are available to the department under any of its programs.

(f) The department shall examine the extent to which the department could integrate all or part of its health care delivery programs into a single delivery system.

(g) If a federal requirement that the federal government may waive restricts the department's integration efforts under this section, the department may seek a waiver of the requirement from the federal government. If the waiver affects a program for which another state agency is designated the single state agency for federal purposes, the department shall request the single state agency to seek the waiver.

(h) The department may not integrate health care delivery programs under this section in a way that affects the single state agency status of another state agency for federal purposes without obtaining the approval of the Health and Human Services Commission and any necessary federal approval.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1411, Sec. 1.09, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.