A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT creating the legislative study commission on Electronic Health information management.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  The General Assembly finds that development of a coordinated statewide electronic health information network will facilitate the integration of health information technology into health care systems and support the timely, accurate, and secure exchange of health information.  Coordinated health information management must be accomplished in consultation with representatives from potential participants, including public, private, and teaching hospitals; rural clinics; community health centers; free clinics; the Department of Health and Human Services; and health care providers' professional organizations. To that end, there is created the Legislative Study Commission on Electronic Health Information Management (Commission). The Commission shall consist of 16 members appointed as follows:
(1)	Eight members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to include:
a.	Six members of the House of Representatives.
b.	Two members of the general public.
(2)	Eight members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, to include:
a.	Six members of the Senate.
b.	Two members of the general public.
SECTION 1.(b)  The Commission shall:
(1)	Study and develop a coordinated, integrated approach to health information management.
(2)	Review federal health information technology systems to determine the requirements necessary to integrate any statewide health care network with appropriate federal systems.
(3)	Study any other matter pertinent to statewide electronic health information management.
SECTION 2.  The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall each appoint a cochair for the Commission. The Commission may contract for consultant services as provided by G.S. 120‑32.02. Upon approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Legislative Services Officer shall assign professional and clerical staff to assist in the work of the Commission. Clerical staff shall be furnished to the Commission through the offices of the House of Representatives and the Senate Directors of Legislative Assistants. The Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building upon the approval of the Legislative Services Commission. Members of the Commission shall receive per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances at the rate established in G.S. 120‑3.1. The appointing authority shall fill vacancies.
The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided under the provisions of G.S. 120‑19 through G.S. 120‑19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them, and the power to subpoena witnesses.
The medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University may provide technical assistance to the Commission.
SECTION 3.  The Commission shall submit its final report to the 2009 General Assembly. The Commission's report shall include the results of the Commission's review and specific legislative recommendations. The Commission shall terminate upon filing its final report.
SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the General Assembly the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year to fund the work of the Commission.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2008.