HF 1640

1st Engrossment - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 03/18/2010 11:54am

A bill for an act
relating to health; establishing an academic detailing program for prescription
drugs; assessing fees; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 62U.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [62U.085] PRESCRIPTION DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Program design. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services, in
collaboration with the Board of Pharmacy, the University of Minnesota Medical School,
and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, shall develop an evidence-based
prescription drug education program designed to provide information and education on the
therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs to health care professionals
authorized to prescribe drugs. The commissioner may contract for technical and clinical
support in the development and the administration of the program from entities conducting
independent research in the effectiveness of prescription drugs.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Program components. new text end

new text begin (a) The program must include outreach and
education components regarding the therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of
prescription drugs as provided in peer-reviewed scientific, medical, and academic research
publications. The commissioner may limit the scope of the outreach and education to
those drugs identified by the Drug Utilization Review Board, established under section
256B.0625, subdivision 13i, as being the most subject to fraud, abuse, gross overuse, or
associated with inappropriate or medically unnecessary care. To the extent possible,
the commissioner shall utilize or incorporate information regarding clinical trials,
pharmaceutical efficacy, adverse effects of drugs, evidence-based treatment options, and
drug marketing approaches that are intended to circumvent competition from generic
and therapeutically equivalent drugs, and shall incorporate into the program other
independent educational resources or models proven effective in promoting high-quality,
evidence-based, cost-effective information regarding the effectiveness and safety of
prescription drugs.
new text end

new text begin (b) Educational materials used by the program shall be based on a balanced and
comprehensive review of evidence that is accepted within the practice of medicine,
including scientific research that conforms to the generally accepted standards of
experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, with the purpose
of providing unbiased continuing education on the comparative efficacy, safety, and
cost-effectiveness of prescription drugs. The program may use materials that meet these
criteria developed by a medical school, an academic medical center, a school of pharmacy,
a medical society, a research institute, or another publicly sponsored prescriber education
service.
new text end

new text begin (c) The program shall include, but is not limited to, in-person outreach and education
sessions for health care professionals in their place of work that shall be facilitated by
qualified educators.
new text end

new text begin (d) The commissioner shall establish:
new text end

new text begin (1) minimum clinical and educational qualifications for educators employed by or
under contract with the program;
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new text begin (2) required training for educators; and
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new text begin (3) a code of conduct governing the educators in their interactions with health
care professionals and conflict of interest guidelines for educators and others involved
in advising, developing, and administering the program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Program coverage. new text end

new text begin (a) The program must provide outreach and education
to health care professionals who as a group collectively prescribe 80 percent or more
of prescription medications dispensed to enrollees in the medical assistance, general
assistance medical care, and MinnesotaCare programs, and who participate in, contract
with, or are reimbursed by state health care programs. The commissioner may further
limit the outreach and education to specific prescribers identified by the Drug Utilization
Review Board. The program may provide outreach and education to health care providers,
health plan companies, hospitals, employers, and other persons interested in utilizing the
program on a subscription or fee-paying basis. The commissioner may establish a fee and
any revenue collected shall be appropriated for the administration of the prescription
drug education program.
new text end

new text begin (b) For purposes of this section, "state health care programs" include the medical
assistance program, general assistance medical care program, the MinnesotaCare program,
health care programs funded by the Department of Corrections, and the state employee
group health insurance program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Annual report. new text end

new text begin By April 1 of each year, beginning April 1, 2011, the
commissioner shall submit a report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the
legislative committees with jurisdiction over health care policy and finance on the
operation of the program. The report must include information on the outreach and
education components of the program; revenues, expenditures, and balances; and savings
attributable to the program in state health care programs.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Funding. new text end

new text begin The commissioner may seek grants and private funds from
nonprofit charitable foundations to fund the planning, development, and ongoing
operations of the program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Fee assessed. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services, effective July 1, 2010,
shall assess each wholesale drug distributor required to be licensed under section 151.47
a quarterly fee, equal to 0.5 percent of revenues the distributor would have received in
the most recent quarter for which drug utilization information by manufacturer labeler
code is available, had the distributor been reimbursed by the commissioner under section
256B.0625, subdivision 13e, for drugs provided to medical assistance, general assistance
medical care, and MinnesotaCare enrollees. The commissioner shall use revenues from
the assessment to implement the prescription drug education program.
new text end