Bill Text: CT HB05452 | 2016 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut House Bill 5452 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: An Act Concerning A Prescription Drug Education Program.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-23 - File Number 153 [HB05452 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2016-HB05452-Comm_Sub.html


General Assembly		*Raised Bill No. 5452*
*February Session, 2016*		LCO No. 1877
		_____HB05452PH____030816____
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)

AN ACT CONCERNING A PRESCRIPTION DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10a-132e of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):

(a) The University of Connecticut [Health Center shall, in consultation with the Yale University School of Medicine,] School of Medicine, The University of Connecticut School of Nursing, the Health Care Costs Containment Committee, as defined in section 3-123rrr, and the Commissioner of Social Services shall, within existing budgetary resources, jointly develop, implement and promote an evidence-based outreach and education program concerning the therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs for the benefit of licensed physicians, pharmacists and other health care professionals authorized to prescribe and dispense prescription drugs. [In developing such program, The University of Connecticut Health Center shall consider whether such program may be developed in coordination with, or as a part of, the Connecticut Area Health Education Center.]

(b) The program [established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall: (1) Arrange] (1) may arrange for licensed physicians, pharmacists and nurses to conduct in person educational visits with prescribing practitioners, utilizing evidence-based materials, borrowing methods from behavioral science and educational theory and, when appropriate, utilizing pharmaceutical industry data and outreach techniques; [(2) inform prescribing practitioners about drug marketing that is designed to prevent competition to brand name drugs from generic or other therapeutically equivalent pharmaceutical alternatives or other evidence-based treatment options; and (3)] and (2) shall provide outreach and education to licensed physicians and other health care practitioners who are participating providers in state-funded health care programs, including, but not limited to, Medicaid, the HUSKY Health program, the Department of Correction inmate health services program and the state employees' health insurance plan.

(c) The [University of Connecticut Health Center] program shall, to the extent feasible, utilize or incorporate [into the program] other independent educational resources or models that are proven to be effective in disseminating high quality, evidenced-based, cost-effective information to prescribing practitioners regarding the effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs. [Such other resources or models that The University of Connecticut Health Center reviews shall include: (1) The Pennsylvania PACE Independent Drug Information Service affiliated with the Harvard Medical School; (2) the Vermont Academic Detailing Program sponsored by the University of Vermont College of Medicine Office of Primary Care; and (3) the Drug Effectiveness Review project conducted by the Oregon Health and Science University Evidence-based Practice Center.]

(d) The [University of Connecticut Health Center shall] University of Connecticut or the Commissioner of Social Services may seek federal funds and The University of Connecticut and the Health Care Costs Containment Committee may seek funding from nongovernmental health access foundations, for the administration and operation of the program. [In addition, The University of Connecticut Health Center may seek funding from nongovernmental health access foundations for the program. The University of Connecticut Health Center shall not be required to develop, implement and promote the program described in this section, if federal, state and private funds in the aggregate are insufficient to pay for the initial and ongoing expenses of such program.]

(e) Not later than January 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, The University of Connecticut School of Medicine, The University of Connecticut School of Nursing, the Health Care Costs Containment Committee and the Commissioner of Social Services shall jointly report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health on the status of the program, including, but not limited to, the program's effectiveness in reducing state spending on prescription drugs.