Florida Senate - 2011                                    SB 2022
       
       
       
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       33-02422-11                                           20112022__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public health; creating the
    3         Expedited Partner Therapy Pilot Project in Duval and
    4         Gadsden Counties; providing an exemption from
    5         specified rules and statutory requirements for the
    6         pilot program; providing for training of physicians
    7         and patient education; requiring the pilot project to
    8         be funded by existing revenues; providing for use of
    9         funds; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, expedited partner therapy offers a cost-effective
   12  treatment tool for breaking the cycle of chlamydia and gonorrhea
   13  that infects thousands of women age 15 through 34 annually who
   14  are thus at a higher risk for poor birth outcomes if they become
   15  pregnant, and
   16         WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   17  recommends expedited partner therapy as a treatment option and
   18  has developed specific guidelines for its use, and
   19         WHEREAS, Gadsden and Duval Counties rank 1st and 3rd,
   20  respectively, in the state in reported cases of sexually
   21  transmitted infections experiencing significant increases in
   22  both chlamydia and gonorrhea over the last 5 years, particularly
   23  among women of childbearing age, and
   24         WHEREAS, the state’s current approach to tracking and
   25  treating partners has not been successful in reducing these
   26  rates, and
   27         WHEREAS, the proposed pilot project is projected to cost
   28  $70,000 annually and reach approximately 4,000 persons and their
   29  partners and offers a cost-effective strategy for testing
   30  expedited partner therapy and evaluating its impact in two
   31  counties that have significantly high incidences of sexually
   32  transmitted infections and infant mortality, NOW, THEREFORE,
   33  
   34  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   35  
   36         Section 1. Expedited partner therapy pilot project.—The
   37  Department of Health shall develop and implement an expedited
   38  partner therapy pilot project in Duval and Gadsden Counties to
   39  address high rates of sexually transmitted infections. The pilot
   40  project shall exempt providers in those counties from the
   41  requirements of ss. 384.27 and 465.023(1)(h), Florida Statutes,
   42  and rule 64B8-9.014, Florida Administrative Code. Under the
   43  proposed pilot project, a physician is authorized to provide a
   44  single dose of medication provided by the county health
   45  department to infected patients for use by their partners.
   46  Expedited partner therapy is not mandated under the pilot
   47  project but is offered as a treatment option. The pilot project
   48  shall provide training to physicians on the Centers for Disease
   49  Control and Prevention expedited partner therapy guidelines and
   50  adapt provider and patient education material on expedited
   51  partner therapy developed by the state of Texas, which recently
   52  approved expedited partner therapy as a treatment option. The
   53  cost of the pilot project may be covered by identifying
   54  resources within existing revenues. Funding shall be used to
   55  purchase needed medication, provide educational material for
   56  physicians and patients, and evaluate the progress of the pilot
   57  project.
   58         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.