Bill Text: CA AB1785 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Prisons: telemedicine systems.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-28 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB1785 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB1785-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1785 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 28, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani
FEBRUARY 10, 2010
An act to add Section 5023.3 to the Penal Code, relating to
prisoners.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1785, as amended, Galgiani. Prisons: telemedicine systems.
Existing law, the Telemedicine Development Act of 1996, regulates
the practice of telemedicine, defined as the practice of health care
delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, transfer of medical
data, and education using interactive audio, video, or data
communications, by a health care practitioner, as defined. Existing
law establishes that it is the intent of the Legislature that the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operate in the most
cost-effective and efficient manner possible when purchasing health
care services for inmates.
This bill would state the Legislature's findings and declarations
on the use of telemedicine in the state's prisons. The
This bill would require the department
to require and maintain a statewide telemedicine services program,
require an operational telemedicine services program at each
institution, expand services delivered by telemedicine, require
prisons to use the prison telemedicine program, as specified, expand
the use of existing telemedicine resources, and establish and
maintain an infrastructure to enable timely tracking and reporting of
telemedicine services , by January 1,
2012, to include protocols within its existing guidelines for
determining when telemedicine services are appropriate, and would
require the department to require an operational telemedicine
services program at all adult institutions by January 1, 2015. The
bill would require the department to schedule a patient for an
evaluation with a distant physician when it is determined to be
medically necessary, and would allow the department to use
telemedicine only when it is in the best interest of the health and
safety of the inmate patient. The bill would require the
department to ensure that telemedicine shall not be used to supplant
civil service physicians and dentists .
The bill would require the department to report to the
Legislature, as provided, by March 1, 2012, and every year
thereafter, regarding the department's implementation of statewide
telemedicine services. This bill would render this reporting
requirement inoperative on March 1, 2017.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to require the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement and maintain the use
of telemedicine in state prisons.
(b) Telemedicine provides an opportunity to bid out contracts to a
larger pool of physicians licensed to practice across the state,
rather than only to those contract physicians practicing in the
region of a specific prison.
(c)
(b) Telemedicine improves inmates' access to health
care by enabling correctional systems to expand their provider
network to include physicians located outside the immediate vicinity
of prisons, particularly for inmates housed in remote areas of the
state with shortages of health care.
(d)
(c) The department's prison telemedicine program began
in 1997 as a pilot project for mental health inmates at Pelican Bay
State Prison and was successful at improving inmates' access to
mental health care. Accordingly, the department decided to expand the
program to provide mental health as well as medical specialty
services at other prisons. Currently, all of the state prisons are
equipped to provide basic telemedicine services.
SEC. 2. Section 5023.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
5023.3. In order to maximize the benefits that come with the use
of telemedicine in the state's prisons, the department shall do all
of the following:
(a) Require and maintain a statewide telemedicine services
program.
(b) Require an operational telemedicine services program at each
institution.
(c) Expand services and encounters delivered by the telemedicine
services program.
(d) Require prisons to use the prison telemedicine program for
medical consultations when authorized by utilization management to be
conducted via telemedicine.
(e) Expand the use of existing external telemedicine resources.
(f) Establish and maintain an information technology support
infrastructure to enable timely tracking and reporting of
telemedicine services.
(a) By January 1, 2012, include within the department's existing
guidelines protocols for determining when telemedicine services are
medically appropriate and in the best interest of the health and
safety of the inmate patient.
(b) Require, by January 1, 2015, an operational telemedicine
services program at all adult institutions within the department. The
program shall include all of the following:
(1) Specific goals and objectives for maintaining and expanding
services and encounters provided by the telemedicine services
program, including store and forward telemedicine technology.
(2) An information technology support infrastructure that will
allow telemedicine to be used at each adult prison.
(3) Specific guidelines for determining when and where
telemedicine would be the preferred delivery method for health care.
(4) Guidelines and protocols for appropriate use and expansion of
store and forward telemedicine technology in state prisons. For
purposes of this section, "store and forward telemedicine" means the
transmission of medical information to be reviewed at a later time
and at a distant site by a physician without the patient being
present.
(c) Schedule a patient for evaluation with a distant physician via
telemedicine if and when it is determined that it is medically
necessary.
(d) Utilize telemedicine only when it is in the best interest of
the health and safety of the inmate patient.
(e) Ensure that telemedicine shall not be used to supplant civil
service physician and dental positions.
(f) (1) On March 1, 2012, and each March 1 thereafter, the
department shall report all of the following to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee, the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, the
Assembly Committee on Budget, the Assembly Committee on Health, the
Assembly Committee on Public Safety, the Senate Committee on
Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the
Senate Committee on Health, and the Senate Committee on Public
Safety:
(A) The extent to which the department achieved the objectives set
forth in this section, as well as the most significant reasons for
achieving or not achieving those objectives.
(B) The extent to which the department is operating a statewide
telemedicine services program, as set forth in this section, that
provides telemedicine services to every adult prison within the
department, as well as the most significant reasons for achieving or
not achieving those objectives.
(C) A description of planned and implemented initiatives necessary
to accomplish the next 12 months' objectives for achieving the goals
set forth in this section.
(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under this
subdivision is inoperative on March 1, 2017, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
