1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health care; awarding a grant to create a 
  1.3             pediatric prepared emergency network for community 
  1.4             hospitals; appropriating money. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [PEDIATRIC PREPARED EMERGENCY NETWORK SYSTEM 
  1.7   PILOT PROGRAM.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The commissioner of health 
  1.9   shall award a grant to a children's emergency medical services 
  1.10  resources center to establish a pediatric prepared emergency 
  1.11  care pilot program to optimize the emergency care children 
  1.12  receive in community hospitals.  The pilot program shall create 
  1.13  an emergency network system involving five community hospital 
  1.14  sites the first year and adding an additional ten sites the 
  1.15  second year. 
  1.16     Subd. 2.  [PARTICIPATION.] Community hospitals may apply to 
  1.17  the commissioner to participate in the program.  If more than 
  1.18  ten hospitals apply, the commissioner shall determine 
  1.19  participation based on the following criteria: 
  1.20     (1) the number of children receiving emergency services at 
  1.21  the hospital's emergency care department; 
  1.22     (2) the location of the hospital in relation to a hospital 
  1.23  with a pediatric critical care unit; 
  1.24     (3) the ability to commit emergency care staff time to the 
  1.25  program; and 
  2.1      (4) the ability to raise matching funds. 
  2.2      Subd. 3.  [PROGRAM COMPONENTS.] The program shall work with 
  2.3   each community hospital site to: 
  2.4      (1) ensure that the necessary equipment for handling 
  2.5   pediatric emergencies is available at the site and that the 
  2.6   equipment is checked and stored properly; 
  2.7      (2) provide training and teamwork development to the 
  2.8   emergency staff to develop pediatric emergency expertise; 
  2.9      (3) assess the resources of each community and its ability 
  2.10  to respond to pediatric emergencies; 
  2.11     (4) develop procedures and protocols relating to the 
  2.12  management of specific disease states, including when to 
  2.13  transfer a patient to a pediatric critical care center, and make 
  2.14  these protocols available for all sites when appropriate; 
  2.15     (5) create ongoing quality improvement activities for each 
  2.16  site, including, but not limited to, automatic peer review in 
  2.17  cases involving a transfer, death, arrest, or child abuse; and 
  2.18     (6) develop a system for the transfer of a pediatric 
  2.19  patient to a pediatric critical care center. 
  2.20     Subd. 4.  [EVALUATION.] (a) The resources center shall 
  2.21  conduct an outcomes-based evaluation of the pilot program to 
  2.22  determine its effectiveness in improving the emergency care 
  2.23  provided to children.  The resources center may request data 
  2.24  from community hospitals on pediatric emergency care cases for 
  2.25  the purpose of conducting the evaluation. 
  2.26     (b) Any data and information obtained by the resources 
  2.27  center as part of the evaluation process is subject to the same 
  2.28  disclosures and confidentiality protections as provided for data 
  2.29  and information received by a review organization under 
  2.30  Minnesota Statutes, section 145.64. 
  2.31     (c) Any data, information, or records obtained by the 
  2.32  resources center are classified as private data on individuals 
  2.33  for purposes of Minnesota Statutes, chapter 13.  The patient 
  2.34  records obtained pursuant to this subdivision must be used 
  2.35  solely for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of the 
  2.36  program. 
  3.1      (d) The results of the evaluation must be presented to the 
  3.2   legislature by February 15, 2003. 
  3.3      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.4      $500,000 is appropriated for the biennium beginning July 1, 
  3.5   2001, from the general fund to the commissioner of health to 
  3.6   award as a grant for the purpose described in section 1.  
  3.7   $....... of this appropriation shall be used for the evaluation 
  3.8   process.