SENATE DOCKET, NO. 15        FILED ON: 1/7/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 520

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Michael O. Moore

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to establishing a pilot program for telemedicine capacity.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 15        FILED ON: 1/7/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 520

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act relative to establishing a pilot program for telemedicine capacity.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

                SECTION 1: Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, there is hereby established a pilot program to test TeleMedicine capacity to provide quality medical service to inmates at the various county correctional facilities while reducing budgetary expenses for physician services on-site. 

                SECTION 2: The pilot shall be instituted in the jails and houses of Corrections in the counties of Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester.  The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) shall oversee the program.  The program shall provide TeleMedicine equipment and support for each of the 14 county jails/houses of corrections.  This equipment shall, as a minimum, include TeleMedicine video conferencing, remote vital sign measurement, software to process the information (video and data), broad band internet communication for the information (video and data), software to allow remote physicians to connect via their PC and other appropriate devices and software.  The EOPSS shall designate one of the County facilities as lead in this effort.  Within 45 days after enactment, the lead county shall release a request for proposal for TeleMedicine systems that meet the requirements of this act.  In accordance with procurement regulations, preference should be given to prime contractors headquartered in Massachusetts with production facilities in the Commonwealth.  Previous experience in TeleMedicine, although not necessarily in prison systems, should be required. The pilot program shall be implemented 120 days from the enactment.  Once installed, the jails/houses of corrections will maintain a log of all TeleMedicine transactions, the physicians involved, the diagnosis and the decisions made for treating the inmate.  Within one year from the program implementation, the  (EOPSS) will review the log data and calculate the potential cost savings (including all elements of treatment from physician cost such as travel time to the facility, transport cost, guard cost and other cost elements that apply) from the use of the TeleMedicine system. This data shall be summarized in a report on the program.