HBA-JEK, TBM H.B. 974 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 974
By: Maxey
Public Health
2/20/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identified a shortage of
dentists in 69 counties in Texas in 1998.  The Texas Senate Health
Committee reports that in 1998 the population to dentist ratio in urban
counties was 2,636:1 while the ratio in rural counties was 4,342:1.  New
telecommunications technology makes it possible for a dentist to see an
image of a patient and  recommend a course of treatment from hundreds of
miles away.  Teledentistry could potentially bring dental care to rural and
underprivileged areas of Texas that lack dental care.  The Center for
TeleHealth at the Baylor College of Dentistry is already putting
teledentistry into use in several unincorporated colonia settlements that
have no dental services.  House Bill 974 sets forth provisions relating to
the practice and Medicaid reimbursement of teledentistry. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Health and Human Services
Commission in SECTION 3 (Section 531.02171, Government Code) of this bill.

ANALYSIS

House Bill 974 amends the Occupations and Government codes to authorize the
use of advanced telecommunications technology in dentistry.  The bill
authorizes a licensed dentist to use telecommunications technology to
examine a patient and to then delegate an assignment through
telecommunications technology to a dental hygienist who is under the
supervision and responsibility of the dentist.   

The bill provides that a person in another state practices dentistry in
this state if the person through any medium, including an electronic
medium, performs an act that constitutes the practice of dentistry on a
patient in this state.   

The bill requires the Health and Human Services Commission to require, by
rule, each health and human services agency that administers a part of the
Medicaid program to provide Medicaid reimbursement for a teledental
consultation provided by a licensed dentist in this state at the same rate
as the Medicaid program reimburses for a comparable in-person consultation.
The bill prohibits the denial of a request for reimbursement solely because
an in-person consultation between a dentist and a patient did not occur.    

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.