HOUSE BILL No. 6202

 

 

June 12, 2018, Introduced by Rep. Whiteford and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 1974 PA 258, entitled

 

"Mental health code,"

 

(MCL 330.1001 to 330.2106) by adding section 165.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 165. (1) The department shall establish and make

 

available to the public the Michigan CARES (Community, Access,

 

Resources, Education, and Safety) hotline. This hotline shall be a

 

telephone referral system that connects individuals experiencing a

 

mental health crisis to a local mental health provider using

 

telecommunications and digital communications methods commonly in

 

use, such as a telephone call, text, electronic mail, and internet

 

chat. The hotline shall also provide the ability to evaluate

 

callers and direct the callers to the appropriate level of care


support, including the ability to connect individuals who need

 

substance use disorder treatment and rehabilitation services to an

 

appropriate provider and the ability to connect to suicide

 

prevention resources when necessary.

 

     (2) The department shall contract for the design, operation,

 

and maintenance of the Michigan CARES hotline. The Michigan CARES

 

hotline shall be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

Individuals operating or maintaining the Michigan CARES hotline

 

shall do all of the following:

 

     (a) Have the ability to access information related to the

 

availability of services, including real-time access to any

 

registry of available inpatient psychiatric beds.

 

     (b) Have the ability to leverage telehealth resources.

 

     (c) Implement practices to comply with all applicable laws

 

respecting individual and patient privacy.

 

     (d) Implement practices to ensure the security of the data

 

collected, in line with industry best practices and in compliance

 

with all applicable laws.

 

     (e) Notwithstanding provisions in subdivisions (c) and (d),

 

collect data and utilize data analytics to track the success of the

 

Michigan CARES hotline's operations and identify trends in service

 

needs and outcomes.

 

     (3) The department shall work with the department of licensing

 

and regulatory affairs and the contractor described in subsection

 

(2) to leverage existing databases and other sources of information

 

identifying providers of mental health services and substance use

 

disorder treatment and rehabilitation services.


     (4) The department of licensing and regulatory affairs shall

 

provide licensing information for appropriate providers of mental

 

health and substance use disorder services to the contractor

 

described in subsection (2) to support the goals of the Michigan

 

CARES hotline. The department and the department of licensing and

 

regulatory affairs shall continue to provide the most current

 

licensing information to the contractor described in subsection

 

(2).

 

     (5) The entity under contract as required in subsection (2)

 

shall utilize technology capable of interfacing with licensing

 

information at the department of licensing and regulatory affairs

 

so that the contractor required under subsection (2) utilizes the

 

most current provider information available.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.