2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 25 - Public Health and Environment
Hospitals
Article 3 - Hospitals
Part 1 - Hospitals
§ 25-3-115. Stroke advisory board - creation - membership - duties - report - definition - repeal

(1) (a) There is hereby created in the department the stroke advisory board, the purpose of which is to evaluate potential strategies for stroke prevention and treatment and develop a statewide needs assessment identifying relevant resources. No later than August 1, 2013, the governor shall appoint eighteen members to the stroke advisory board as follows:

(I) Six physicians who are actively involved in stroke care and who satisfy the following criteria: One physician who is board-certified in primary care; one physician who is board-certified in vascular neurology; one physician who is privileged and actively practicing interventional neuroradiology; one physician who is board-certified in neurosurgery; one physician representing a statewide chapter of emergency physicians; and one physician who is a board-certified neurologist serving patients in a rural area of the state;

(II) One member representing a statewide association of physicians;

(III) One member representing a statewide hospital association;

(IV) One member who is an emergency medical service provider, as defined in section 25-3.5-103 (8);

(V) One member who is a registered nurse involved in stroke care;

(VI) One hospital administrator from a hospital located in a rural area of the state;

(VII) One hospital administrator from a hospital located in an urban area of the state;

(VIII) One representative from a stroke rehabilitation facility;

(IX) One member who is a Colorado resident representing a national association whose goal is to eliminate cardiovascular disease and stroke;

(X) One member who is a Colorado resident representing a national stroke association;

(XI) One member who is a physical or occupational therapist actively involved in stroke care;

(XII) One member of the public who has suffered a stroke or is the caregiver of a person who has suffered a stroke; and

(XIII) One member who is an expert in stroke database management.

(b) The executive director of the department or the executive director's designee shall serve as an ex officio member of the stroke advisory board.

(c) Members of the stroke advisory board serve without compensation and are not entitled to reimbursement of expenses incurred in serving on or performing duties of the advisory board.

(2) (a) The stroke advisory board shall study and make recommendations for developing a statewide plan to improve quality of care for stroke patients. In conducting the study, the stroke advisory board shall explore the following issues, without limitation:

(I) Creation of a state database or registry consisting of data on stroke care that mirrors the data hospitals submit to nationally recognized organizations;

(II) Access to aggregated stroke data, which must exclude any identifying or confidential information about the reporting hospital or patients treated by the hospital, from a state database that may be developed or from a nationally recognized organization by the advisory board, by any person who submits a written request for the data;

(III) Evaluation of currently available stroke treatments and the development of recommendations, based on medical evidence, for ways to improve stroke prevention and treatment;

(IV) A plan that would encourage rural and urban hospitals to coordinate services for the necessary referral or receipt of patients requiring stroke care in the state; and

(V) The criteria used by nationally recognized bodies for designating a hospital in stroke care and whether a designation is appropriate or needed to assure access to the best quality care for Colorado residents with stroke events.

(b) By January 31, 2014, and by each January 1 thereafter, the stroke advisory board shall submit a report specifying its findings and recommendations to the health and human services committee of the senate, the health, insurance, and environment committee of the house of representatives, or their successor committees, and the department. The stroke advisory board shall include in its report a recommendation on whether a designation of a hospital in stroke care is appropriate or needed to assure access to the best quality care for Colorado residents with stroke events.

(3) The department may accept and expend, subject to appropriation by the general assembly, gifts, grants, and donations to pay the direct expenses of the department in assisting and staffing the stroke advisory board. The department shall transmit any monetary gifts, grants, or donations it receives to the state treasurer for deposit in the health facilities general licensure cash fund, and those moneys may be used only to pay the direct expenses of the department.

(4) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "department" means the department of public health and environment.

(5) This section is repealed, effective September 1, 2018. Prior to the repeal, the department of regulatory agencies shall review the functions of the stroke advisory board in accordance with section 2-3-1203, C.R.S.