Florida Senate - 2012 SB 282
By Senator Wise
5-00287-12 2012282__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to health care transition programs and
3 services for adolescents and young adults who have
4 special health care needs; providing legislative
5 intent; establishing a program within the Division of
6 Children’s Medical Services Network in the Department
7 of Health to implement health care transition programs
8 for adolescents and young adults who have special
9 health care needs; specifying duties of the office
10 with respect to the oversight, implementation, and
11 coordination of the program; requiring that the
12 program provide technical assistance to communities,
13 providers, and organizations; requiring the Department
14 of Health, in partnership with the Agency for Health
15 Care Administration, to identify options for
16 addressing the compensation of health care providers
17 and improving access to adult and specialty health
18 care for adolescents and young adults who have special
19 health care needs; requiring the Department of Health
20 to work with the Office of Insurance Regulation to
21 explore and recommend effective policies that address
22 medical management and health care transition services
23 for adolescents and young adults who have special
24 health care needs; requiring the Department of Health
25 to work with community-based pediatric and adult
26 health care providers to explore and recommend the
27 development of local health and transition services
28 programs in each of the regions of the Children’s
29 Medical Services Network; providing requirements for
30 program structure and design; specifying the services
31 that may be offered by local health and transition
32 services programs; requiring that at least one
33 proposed health and transition services program be
34 associated with each region of the Children’s Medical
35 Services Network; requiring an evaluation of the
36 program; providing an effective date.
37
38 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
39
40 Section 1. Legislative intent; health care transition
41 programs and services for adolescents and young adults who have
42 special health care needs.—
43 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a
44 strategic and comprehensive approach to the development and
45 implementation of effective health care transition programs and
46 services for adolescents and young adults who have special
47 health care needs. The Health Care Transition Services Task
48 Force for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities developed a
49 statewide plan to promote the development of such health care
50 transition services in accordance with chapter 2008-211, Laws of
51 Florida, and outlined the plan in the task force’s subsequent
52 report.
53 (2) A program called the Florida Health And Transition
54 Services (FloridaHATS) is established within the Division of
55 Children’s Medical Services Network, which shall be responsible
56 for:
57 (a) Overseeing and implementing the national maternal and
58 child health goals, using existing state plans, in order to
59 implement effective transition programs for adolescents and
60 young adults who have special health care needs. As used in this
61 section, the term “adolescents and young adults who have special
62 health care needs” means individuals who are 12 through 26 years
63 of age; who have chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or
64 emotional conditions; and who require health care or related
65 services of a type or amount beyond that which is generally
66 required by adolescents or young adults.
67 (b) Developing a planning and implementation process and
68 the necessary guides for use by community providers and
69 organizations in developing coordinated systems of services for
70 adolescents and young adults who have special health care needs.
71 The coordinated system of services shall include different
72 models that accommodate the geographic and cultural diversity in
73 the state and that are adapted to the local needs of communities
74 and to local health services delivery systems. Furthermore, the
75 models shall promote the integration of health care transition
76 services with transition programs in education, vocational
77 rehabilitation, and independent living, and shall address the
78 varying needs of subpopulations, such as students who are
79 enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions and
80 individuals in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems.
81 (c) Developing and disseminating resource guides that
82 outline the various public and private health care financing
83 options, including commercial insurance, and the respective
84 health care benefits.
85 (d) Coordinating the program with educational institutions,
86 including medical centers, to identify and make available for
87 health care providers existing training programs regarding the
88 principles, objectives, and methods for the successful
89 transition of adolescents and young adults who have special
90 health care needs to adult health care providers.
91 (e) Maintaining and updating the FloridaHATS’s website with
92 web-based materials related to health care transition services
93 which can be used by adolescents and young adults who have
94 special health care needs and their families, providers, and
95 others involved in health care transition.
96 (f) Collecting and disseminating information in specific
97 clinical areas concerning evidenced-based practices and best
98 practices for providing health care transition services for
99 youth and young adults who have chronic special health care
100 needs or disabilities.
101 (g) Providing technical assistance to communities,
102 providers, and organizations that are involved in the
103 development and implementation of systems of services for
104 adolescents and young adults who have special health care needs.
105 (h) Developing and disseminating quality improvement and
106 evaluation components for health care transition programs. The
107 quality improvement and evaluation components must include a
108 common or comparable set of performance measures for all
109 entities that provide health care transition services for
110 adolescents and young adults who have special health care needs.
111 (i) Establishing a network of experts in the fields of
112 pediatric and adolescent medicine, adult medicine, and allied
113 health to provide technical assistance and recommendations
114 regarding best practices and policy guidance in health care
115 transition.
116 (3) The Department of Health shall work in partnership with
117 the Agency for Health Care Administration to identify potential
118 waiver or state plan options that address health care provider
119 compensation strategies, including, but not limited to, co
120 management, care plan development and oversight, provision of a
121 medical home, and use of telehealth technology to improve access
122 to adult and specialty health care for adolescents and young
123 adults who have special health care needs.
124 (4) The Department of Health shall work with the Office of
125 Insurance Regulation to explore and recommend effective policies
126 that address medical management and health care transition
127 services that are based on a patient-centered medical home model
128 for adolescents and young adults who have special health care
129 needs.
130 (5) The Department of Health shall also work with
131 community-based pediatric and adult health care providers to
132 explore and recommend the development of local health and
133 transition services programs in each of the eight regions of the
134 Children’s Medical Services Network which meet the following
135 requirements:
136 (a) The proposed program structure and design must be
137 adapted to the needs of the local community and health services
138 delivery system; however, the following elements shall be in
139 place in order to ensure the success of a local health and
140 transition services program:
141 1. A consultative partnership between adult and pediatric
142 health care providers in a major medical health care
143 organization or an academic medical setting for purposes of the
144 transition of adolescents and young adults to adult health care
145 services.
146 2. Community-based health care services that are provided
147 under agreements with major health care organizations or
148 academic medical centers for the purpose of providing
149 consultation concerning the management of special health care
150 needs.
151 3. Community-based support organizations that can provide
152 assistance with services such as supported living and
153 employment, health insurance, and support services to maintain
154 the young adult in the community.
155 4. A medical home that provides for coordinated and
156 multidisciplinary care and focuses on engaging adult health care
157 providers in the care and treatment of adolescents or young
158 adults.
159 (b) The following services must be offered by the local
160 health and transition services program to individuals who are
161 served in the local health and transition services program:
162 1. An assessment of health needs, education and vocational
163 status and needs, and health insurance status.
164 2. In coordination with the educational system, community
165 based organizations, and the vocational system, a plan for
166 transition services, which includes adult health care services,
167 educational services, habilitative services, independent living
168 services, adult employment, and health insurance.
169 3. Disease self-management programs.
170 (c) There shall be at least one proposed transition program
171 associated with each one of the eight regions of the Children’s
172 Medical Services Network.
173 (d) The local health and transition services program shall
174 be evaluated by an organization or university that has expertise
175 and experience in evaluating health care programs. The
176 evaluation must be formative and cumulative and must include
177 program process and outcome measures, as well as client
178 outcomes. The results of the evaluation may be used by the
179 department to improve and develop other local health and
180 transition services programs.
181 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.