Section 208.975

Title XII PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Chapter 208

Effective - 28 Aug 2007, 2 histories, see footnote   (history) 

  208.975.  Fund created, use of moneys — rules. — 1.  There is hereby created in the state treasury the "Health Care Technology Fund" which shall consist of all gifts, donations, transfers, and moneys appropriated by the general assembly, and bequests to the fund.  The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund and may approve disbursements from the fund in accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180.  The fund shall be administered by the department of social services in accordance with the recommendations of the MO HealthNet oversight committee unless otherwise specified by the general assembly.  Moneys in the fund shall be distributed in accordance with specific appropriation by the general assembly.  The director of the department of social services shall submit his or her recommendations for the disbursement of the funds to the governor and the general assembly.

  2.  Subject to the recommendations of the MO HealthNet oversight committee under section 208.978 and subsection 1 of this section, moneys in the fund shall be used to promote technological advances to improve patient care, decrease administrative burdens, increase access to timely services, and increase patient and health care provider satisfaction.  Such programs or improvements on technology shall include encouragement and implementation of technologies intended to improve the safety, quality, and costs of health care services in the state, including but not limited to the following:

  (1)  Electronic medical records;

  (2)  Community health records;

  (3)  Personal health records;

  (4)  E-prescribing;

  (5)  Telemedicine;

  (6)  Telemonitoring; and

  (7)  Electronic access for participants and providers to obtain MO HealthNet service authorizations.

  3.  Prior to any moneys being appropriated or expended from the health care technology fund for the programs or improvements listed in subsection 2 of this section, there shall be competitive requests for proposals consistent with state procurement policies of chapter 34.  After such process is completed, the provisions of subsection 1 of this section relating to the administration of fund moneys shall be effective.

  4.  For purposes of this section, "elected public official or any state employee" means a person who holds an elected public office in a municipality, a county government, a state government, or the federal government, or any state employee, and the spouse of either such person, and any relative within one degree of consanguinity or affinity of either such person.

  5.  Any amounts appropriated or expended from the health care technology fund in violation of this section shall be remitted by the payee to the fund with interest paid at the rate of one percent per month.  The attorney general is authorized to take all necessary action to enforce the provisions of this section, including but not limited to obtaining an order for injunction from a court of competent jurisdiction to stop payments from being made from the fund in violation of this section.

  6.  Any business or corporation which receives moneys expended from the health care technology fund in excess of five hundred thousand dollars in exchange for products or services and, during a period of two years following receipt of such funds, employs or contracts with any current or former elected public official or any state employee who had any direct decision-making or administrative authority over the awarding of health care technology fund contracts or the disbursement of moneys from the fund shall be subject to the provisions contained within subsection 5 of this section.  Employment of or contracts with any current or former elected public official or any state employee which commenced prior to May 1, 2007, shall be exempt from these provisions.

  7.  Any moneys remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall revert to the credit of the general revenue fund, except for moneys that were gifts, donations, or bequests.

  8.  The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested.  Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.

  9.  The MO HealthNet division shall promulgate rules setting forth the procedures and methods implementing the provisions of this section and establish criteria for the disbursement of funds under this section to include but not be limited to grants to community health networks that provide the majority of care provided to MO HealthNet and low-income uninsured individuals in the community, and preference for health care entities where the majority of the patients and clients served are either participants of MO HealthNet or are from the medically underserved population.  Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028.  This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2007, shall be invalid and void.

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(L. 2007 S.B. 577)