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S.F. No. 2946 - Prescription Drug Education Program
 
Author: Senator Melisa López Franzen
 
Prepared By:
 
Date: March 24, 2016



 

SF 2946 requires the Commissioner of Human Services to establish a prescription drug education program for health care professionals who are authorized to prescribe drugs.

Section 1 (256B.0639) establishes the program.

Subdivision 1 requires the Commissioner of Human Services to develop an evidence-based prescription drug education program to provide information and education to health care professionals who are authorized to prescribe drugs on the therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs.

Subd. 2, paragraph (a), requires the program to include outreach and education components regarding therapeutic and cost-effective utilization of prescription drugs.  The commissioner may limit the scope of the education and outreach to those drugs identified by the Drug Utilization Review Board.

Paragraph (b) requires that the educational materials used by the program are based on a balanced and comprehensive review of evidence that is accepted within the practice of medicine.

Paragraph (c) requires the program to include in person outreach and education sessions for health care professionals in their place of work that are facilitated by qualified educators.

Paragraph (d) requires the commissioner to establish:  (1) minimum clinical and educational qualifications for educators employed under contract with the program; (2) training requirements for educators; and (3) a code of conduct governing the educators in their interactions with health care professionals, including conflict of interest guidelines for educators employed by or under contract with the program.

Subd. 3, paragraph (a), requires the program to provide outreach and education to health care professionals who collectively prescribe 80 percent or more of prescription drugs dispensed to enrollees in the medical assistance and MinnesotaCare programs and who participate in, contract with, or are reimbursed by state health care programs.

Paragraph (b) authorizes the commissioner to narrow the scope of outreach and education or limit the outreach and education to specific prescribers identified by the Drug Utilization Review Board.

Paragraph (c) states that the program may provide outreach and education to other persons interested in utilizing the program on a subscription or fee-paying basis.  Authorizes the commissioner to establish subscription rates and fees and states that any revenue collected is appropriated for the administration of the program.

Paragraph (d) defines state health care program as medical assistance, MinnesotaCare, health care programs funded by the Department of Corrections, and the state employee group health insurance group (SEGIP).

Subd. 4 requires the commissioner to submit an annual report to the legislature on the operation of the program.

Subd. 5 authorizes the commissioner to seek grants and private funds from nonprofit charitable foundations.

Subd. 6 requires the commissioner to assess a quarterly fee on each wholesale drug distributor 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 for drugs provided under medical assistance and MinnesotaCare enrollees.

KC:dv

 

 

 

 
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