North Carolina § 148-19 - Health services.

§ 148-19. Health services.

The general policies, rules, and regulations of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety shall prescribe standards for health services to prisoners, which shall include preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic measures on both an outpatient and a hospital basis, for all types of patients. A prisoner may be taken, when necessary, to a medical facility outside the State prison system. The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety shall seek the cooperation of public and private agencies, institutions, officials, and individuals in the development of adequate health services to prisoners. Upon request of the Secretary of Public Safety, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may detail personnel employed by the Department of Health and Human Services to the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of supervising and furnishing medical, psychiatric, psychological, dental, and other technical and scientific services to the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety. The compensation, allowances, and expenses of the personnel detailed under this section may be paid from applicable appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services, and may be reimbursed from applicable appropriations to the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety. The Secretary of Public Safety may make similar arrangements with any other agency of State government able and willing to aid the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety to meet the needs of prisoners for health services. Each prisoner committed to the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety shall receive a physical and mental examination by a health care professional authorized by the North Carolina Medical Board to perform the examinations as soon as practicable after admission and before being assigned to work. The prisoner's work and other assignments shall be made with due regard for the prisoner's physical and mental condition. The Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services shall adopt standards for the delivery of mental health and intellectual and other developmental disability services to inmates in the custody of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety. The Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services shall give the Secretary of Public Safety an opportunity to review and comment on proposed standards prior to promulgation of the standards; however, final authority to determine the standards remains with the Commission. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services shall designate an agency or agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services to monitor the implementation by the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety of these standards and of substance abuse standards adopted by the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety. History (1917, c. 286, s. 22; C.S., s. 7727; 1925, c. 163; 1933, c. 172, s. 18; 1957, c. 349, s. 10; 1967, c. 996, s. 4; 1973, c. 476, s. 133; c. 1262, s. 10; 1977, c. 332; c. 679, s. 7; 1981, c. 51, s. 6; c. 707, ss. 1, 2; 1985, c. 589, s. 55.1; 1991, c. 405, s. 1; 1995, c. 94, s. 36; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 2011-145, s. 19.1(h), (i); 2011-266, s. 1.17(b); 2012-83, s. 61; 2013-360, s. 12A.12; 2017-186, s. 2(iiiiiii); 2019-76, s. 28.) Telemedicine Pilot Program for Inmates. - Session Laws 2019-135, s. 6(a)-(d), provides: "(a) By August 1, 2019, the Department of Public Safety, Health Services Section, shall report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety and the chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees on Justice and Public Safety on the feasibility study of telehealth services referenced in the February 2019 Memorandum of Agreement between the Department and UNC Health Care. "(b) The Department of Public Safety, Health Services Section, shall establish a telemedicine pilot program to provide physical health services to inmates in remote correctional facilities. The pilot program shall be established with consideration of the results of the study referenced in subsection (a) of this section. The goal of the pilot program is to assess whether the use of telemedicine decreases costs for inmate transportation, custody, and outside providers while improving access to care. While designing the telemedicine pilot program, the Department of Public Safety, Health Services Section, shall consult UNC Health Care; the 2012 University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School report on telemedicine; and Finding 6, Report Number 2018-08, from the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee. The telemedicine pilot program shall initially be established in two correctional facilities serving male inmates. One pilot site shall be located in a correctional facility in the eastern portion of the State and one pilot site shall be located in a correctional facility in the western portion of the State. The pilot program design must connect the two correctional facility pilot sites with the Central Prison Healthcare Complex and its contracted providers' facilities and shall be operational on or before January 1, 2020. "(c) The ability to assess, measure, and evaluate the telemedicine pilot program shall be integral to the pilot program design. Assessment of the pilot program shall include, but is not limited to, the following measures for each correctional facility pilot site: "(1) Number and cost of telemedicine encounters by service area. "(2) Comparison of the number and cost of telemedicine encounters, by service area, to: "a. The number of in-person encounters provided the previous year to inmates housed at that facility; and "b. The number of in-person encounters provided during the pilot period at similar correctional facilities not participating in the pilot. "(3) Comparison of the number of days lapsed between referral date and treatment date, by service area, to: "a. The number of days lapsed the previous year in that facility; and "b. The number of days lapsed during the pilot period at similar correctional facilities not participating in the pilot. "(4) Amount of inmate transportation and custody costs avoided from receiving telemedicine. "(5) Amount of provider transportation costs avoided from providing telemedicine. "(6) Cost of initial telemedicine equipment and other related costs with descriptions. "(7) Obstacles and concerns related to expanding telemedicine to other correctional facilities. "(d) On or before January 1, 2020, the Department of Public Safety, Health Services Section, shall provide an interim report on the assessment criteria outlined in subsection (c) of this section, including any additional findings and recommendations, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services. On or before January 1, 2021, the Department of Public Safety, Health Services Section, shall report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services on the assessment criteria outlined in subsection (c) of this section, including any additional findings, and shall make recommendations on whether to expand the telemedicine pilot program to additional sites, including accompanying costs and anticipated savings, and recommendations on which correctional facilities would be most advantageous to include in the pilot due to lack of access or costs associated with transportation and custody." Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2019-76, s. 33, provides: "Parts I and II of this act do not affect the coverage, eligibility, rights, responsibilities, or provision of State or federal services or benefits for individuals who have been diagnosed with mental retardation and whose diagnosis has not been changed to a diagnosis of intellectual disability." Session Laws 2019-76, s. 34, made the amendments by Session Laws 2019-76, s. 28, effective October 1, 2019, and applicable to proceedings commenced or services rendered on or after that date. Session Laws 2019-135, s. 1(a), (b), provides: "(a) To contain medical costs for inmates as required by G.S. 143B-707.3(b), the Department of Public Safety shall develop a plan to increase the use of the Central Prison Healthcare Complex (hereinafter 'CPHC') which shall include all of the following: "(1) Strategies, policies, and oversight mechanisms to ensure that non-life-threatening emergencies for male inmates within a 60-mile radius of Raleigh are treated at the CPHC urgent care facility. As part of this effort, DPS shall consider the use of telemedicine. "(2) A cost comparison of health care services performed at CPHC and the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women (hereinafter 'NCCIW') and health care services performed by outside contracted providers. The cost comparison shall include the cost of transporting inmates to and from outside contracted providers. "(3) A comprehensive review of the current usage of health care facilities at CPHC and NCCIW and the potential to maximize usage of those facilities through (i) increasing the usage of CPHC's facilities for general anesthesia procedures and increasing usage of existing on-site equipment, (ii) selling equipment no longer in use or not in use due to staffing changes, (iii) increasing the provision of health care services available at CPHC to female inmates, and (iv) identifying potential CPHC expenditures that would ultimately result in demonstrated cost savings. "(4) Methods to contain costs for palliative and long-term health care services for inmates." "(b) By December 1, 2019, the Department of Public Safety shall submit the plan required by subsection (a) of this section to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety shall also submit its progress made in achieving cost savings under the plan, the amount of any actual and estimated cost savings, and any obstacles to increasing the usage of the health services facilities at CPHC and NCCIW." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2011-266, s. 1.17(b), effective July 1, 2011, deleted "upon the advice of the Substance Abuse Advisory Council established pursuant to G.S. 143B-270" from the end of the third sentence in subsection (d). Session Laws 2017-186, s. 2(iiiiiii), effective December 1, 2017, inserted "and Juvenile Justice" throughout the section. Session Laws 2019-76, s. 28, effective October 1, 2019, inserted "may be" preceding "reimbursed from" in the second sentence of subsection (b); substituted "intellectual and other developmental disability" for "mental retardation" in the first sentence of subsection (c); and made stylistic changes.