Prevention of Substance Use Disorders

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee. Sections 1 through 8 of the bill:

• Exempt veterinarians from complying with specific aspects of the prescription drug monitoring program (program) that are specific to prescriptions for human patients;
• Add reporting requirements for gabapentin gabapentinoids , in addition to prescriptions for controlled substances in this state, to the program;
• Allow the medical director of a medical practice or hospital, including a nurse medical director to appoint designees to query the program on behalf of a practitioner in the medical practice or hospital setting;
• Allow the department of health care policy and financing to access the program, consistent with federal data privacy requirements, for purposes of care coordination, utilization review, and federally required reporting relating to recipients of certain benefits; and
• Update current language in the laws relating to the program by using more modern terminology.

Sections 9 and 11 create the substance use disorder prevention gap grant program (grant program) in the department of public health and environment (department). The grant program provides grants to community-based organizations to fill gaps in funding for substance use disorder prevention services in areas of highest need, including community-oriented, children-oriented, youth-oriented, and family-oriented prevention services. The department, in conjunction with the Colorado substance use disorders prevention collaborative (prevention collaborative), shall create a publicly available prevention services gap assessment tool to direct grant program awards to areas of highest need. After review of applications, the prevention collaborative shall make recommendations to the department, and, subject to available appropriations, the department shall award 2-year grants based on those recommendations. The bill requires the department to administer the grant program and application process and authorizes the executive director of the department to promulgate rules as necessary to implement the grant program. The department shall begin accepting grant applications no later than December 31, 2024. The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate to the department $1,500,000 from the general fund to implement the grant program. The grant program repeals in 2028. Section 10 9 permits a multidisciplinary and multiagency drug overdose fatality review team established for a county, a city and county, a group of counties or cities and counties, or an Indian tribe (local team) to request and receive information from certain specified persons and entities as necessary to carry out the purpose and duties of the local team. Upon written request of the chair of a local team, a person or entity shall provide the local team with information and records regarding the person whose death or near death is being reviewed by the local team.

A person or entity that receives a records request from a local team may charge the local team a reasonable fee for the service of duplicating any records requested by the local team.

A person or entity, including a local or state agency, that provides information or records to a local team is not subject to civil or criminal liability or any professional disciplinary action pursuant to state law as a result of providing the information or record.

Upon request of a local team, a person who is not a member of a local team may attend and participate in a meeting at which a local team reviews confidential information and considers a plan, an intervention, or other course of conduct based on that review. The bill requires each person at a local team meeting to sign a confidentiality form before reviewing information and records received by the local team. Local team meetings in which confidential information is discussed are exempt from the open meetings provisions of the "Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972".

A local team shall maintain the confidentiality of information provided to the local team as required by state and federal law, and information and records acquired or created by a local team are not subject to inspection pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act". Local team members and a person who presents or provides information to a local team may not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding or disciplinary action regarding the information presented or provided. Law enforcement shall not use information from any overdose fatality review for any law enforcement purspose. Section 12 10 requires the department of health care policy and financing to publish guidance for providers concerning reimbursement for all variations of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment interventions. Section 13 11 requires the substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment grant program to implement:

• A statewide adolescent substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral practice that includes training and technical assistance for appropriate professionals in Colorado schools, with the purpose of identifying students who would benefit from screening, brief intervention, and potential referral to resources, including treatment; and
• A statewide substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral practice for pediatricians and professionals in pediatric settings, with the purpose of identifying adolescent patients who would benefit from screening, brief intervention, and potential referral to resources, including treatment.

Current law authorizes the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies (center) to conduct a statewide perinatal substance use data linkage project (data linkage project) that uses ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health actions to improve outcomes for families impacted by substance use during pregnancy. Section 14 12 :

• Requires the center to conduct the data linkage project;
• Requires the data linkage project to utilize data from additional state and federal programs; and
• Expands the data linkage project to examine the education of pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders.

Section 15 authorizes the university of Colorado school of medicine (school of medicine) to conduct a statewide opioid use disorder prevalence data linkage project (data linkage project) that uses ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health actions to improve outcomes for individuals with opioid misuse or use disorders. The bill includes sources of data to be used in the data linkage project. The governor's office of information technology shall perform secure linkage and anonymization of the data. The school of medicine will report annually to certain committees of the general assembly on the data linkage project and its outcomes. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, section 13 appropriates:

• $75,000 from the general fund to the executive director of the department of health care policy and financing for general professional services and special projects; this appropriation is based on the assumption that the department will receive $75,000 in federal funds for these services; and
• $250,000 from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by the Colorado commission on higher education and higher education special purpose programs for use by the center for substance use disorder, prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies at the University of Colorado Health sciences center.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)