2006 Minnesota Statutes

43A.312 CENTER FOR HEALTH CARE PURCHASING IMPROVEMENT.
    Subdivision 1. Establishment; administration. The commissioner shall establish and
administer the Center for Health Care Purchasing Improvement as an administrative unit within
the Department of Employee Relations. The Center for Health Care Purchasing Improvement
shall support the state in its efforts to be a more prudent and efficient purchaser of quality health
care services. The center shall aid the state in developing and using more common strategies and
approaches for health care performance measurement and health care purchasing. The common
strategies and approaches shall promote greater transparency of health care costs and quality, and
greater accountability for health care results and improvement. The center shall also identify
barriers to more efficient, effective, quality health care and options for overcoming the barriers.
    Subd. 2. Staffing; duties; scope. (a) The commissioner may appoint a director, and up to
three additional senior-level staff or codirectors, and other staff as needed who are under the
direction of the commissioner. The staff of the center are in the unclassified service.
(b) With the authorization of the commissioner of employee relations, and in consultation
or interagency agreement with the appropriate commissioners of state agencies, the director,
or codirectors, may:
(1) initiate projects to develop plan designs for state health care purchasing;
(2) require reports or surveys to evaluate the performance of current health care purchasing
strategies;
(3) calculate fiscal impacts, including net savings and return on investment, of health care
purchasing strategies and initiatives;
(4) conduct policy audits of state programs to measure conformity to state statute or other
purchasing initiatives or objectives;
(5) support the Administrative Uniformity Committee under section 62J.50 and other relevant
groups or activities to advance agreement on health care administrative process streamlining;
(6) consult with the Health Economics Unit of the Department of Health regarding reports
and assessments of the health care marketplace;
(7) consult with the departments of Health and Commerce regarding health care regulatory
issues and legislative initiatives;
(8) work with appropriate Department of Human Services staff and the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services to address federal requirements and conformity issues for health care
purchasing;
(9) assist the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association in health care purchasing
strategies;
(10) convene medical directors of agencies engaged in health care purchasing for advice,
collaboration, and exploring possible synergies;
(11) contact and participate with other relevant health care task forces, study activities, and
similar efforts with regard to health care performance measurement and performance-based
purchasing; and
(12) assist in seeking external funding through appropriate grants or other funding
opportunities and may administer grants and externally funded projects.
    Subd. 3. Report. The commissioner must report annually to the legislature and the governor
on the operations, activities, and impacts of the center. The report must be posted on the
Department of Employee Relations Web site and must be available to the public. The report must
include a description of the state's efforts to develop and use more common strategies for health
care performance measurement and health care purchasing. The report must also include an
assessment of the impacts of these efforts, especially in promoting greater transparency of health
care costs and quality, and greater accountability for health care results and improvement.
History: 2006 c 282 art 14 s 10