The Legislative Budget Board met on August 14 to hear from the Texas State Board of Pharmacy concerning the agency’s Legislative Appropriation Request for the 86th Session and key exceptional items.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing, but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Agency Presentation
Allison Benz, Executive Director of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy
- The highest priority of our budget request concerns the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP)
- The funding we are seeking would provide critical enhancements to the program including,
- NarxCare – A system that provides analytics and resources for risk assessments by prescribers and pharmacists. The system provides an interactive visualization for help identifying risk factors.
- Clinical Alerts – Provides enhanced notification for prescribers and pharmacists based on thresholds for patients receiving opioids and benzodiazepines.
- Statewide Integration – Effective Sep 1, 2019, all prescribers will be required to access integration systems. This system will allow data on the PMP to be easily accessed statewide.
- Exceptional Item 1:
- We are also seeking an epidemiologist for the PMP
- Epidemiologists investigate causes of health patterns in humans
- The epidemiologist would be responsible for identifying trends regarding opioids and other controlled substances
- Exceptional Item 2:
- During the 2017 session, funding for the testing of sterile compounded preparations and the scanning of licensing and complaint files was cut
- We are asking that this funding be restored
- A Texas Register Liaison Service which would assist staff in the editing and formatting of proposed and adopted rules to the Texas register
- Our current software is no longer supported by the vendor
- We are asking to update the case management software and for an email system to electronically send out the agency’s newsletter and other announcements
- Exceptional Item 3:
- In the last 15 years, the agency has only been able to distribute merit salary increases in 3 years
- This item would allow for a 3.4% increase for each employee every biennium based on performance evaluations
- The increase is necessary to prevent turnover and loss and retain exceptional employees
- Exceptional Item 4:
- Vehicles that the agency purchases are generally replaced after 9 years
- We have four vehicles that will need to be replaced in the next biennium
- We have funds for three of those vehicles and are only asking for funds for the fourth
- Exceptional Item 5:
- We are asking for funds for three new FTE positions
- One field investigator, one legal assistant, and one administrative assistant for open records
- Additional inspectors are needed to conduct investigations more frequently
- The legal assistant position is necessary to ensure cases are prosecuted in an expedient manner
- The administrative assistant is needed to handle to increase in request for agency records – the number of requests for information has increased by around 40% in recent years
- Exceptional Item 6:
- This item enables IT services to strengthen our electronic business and cybersecurity
- Exceptional Item 7:
- These funds would help support the Health Professions Council, of whom the Board has been an active member since its inception in 1993
Questions from Joint Legislative/LBB Panel
- Question – Has your agency identified any issues with current riders?
- We want to fix coordinating funding with the LBB and Comptroller’s office – we want that funding to move to Article 8 Special Funding
- Question – On exceptional item 1, can you break down the cost of the items included in that?
- ‘Clinical alerts’ is the least expensive
- ‘Integration’ is the most expensive part
- I can get the exact numbers to you
- The cost for the biennium is around $5.2 million
- Question – Concerning the need for the epidemiologist, has your agency worked with other agencies in the past to pull data the epidemiologist would gather?
- We worked with DSHS to look at opioid use by county