GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 232*

Short Title:  Medical Evaluation Program Funds.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Hiatt; Ramsey and Culp.

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Referred to:  Appropriations.

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February 17, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE CONTINUATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE MEDICAL EVALUATION PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES AS RECOMMENDED BY THE DRIVER MEDICAL EVALUATION PROGRAM STUDY COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Division of Motor Vehicles the following funds for the designated purposes for the 1997-98 fiscal year to implement the following recommendations of the Driver Medical Evaluation Program Study Commission:
(1)	Fifty-five thousand dollars ($55,000) for an education program to assist older drivers based upon the American Association of Retired Persons' (AARP) "55 Alive”Program; a new collaborative effort between the AARP, the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the Driver Medical Evaluation Program (DME), and the Injury Control Section of the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources (DEHNR).
(2)	Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to print and distribute educational pamphlets to explain the Driver Medical Evaluation Program and how participants can be released from the program.
(3)	Five thousand dollars ($5,000) to establish and maintain a Web Page on the Internet for DMV, including information on the Driver Medical Evaluation Program.
(4)	Seventy-nine thousand eight hundred eighty-nine dollars ($79,889) to fund an additional DME Health Physician II to review cases.
(5)	Twenty-nine thousand eight hundred dollars ($29,800) for a contract with SIPS for computer support for DMV's Medical Imaging System; including ten thousand four hundred dollars ($10,400) for 520 hours of computer support and nineteen thousand four hundred dollars ($19,400) for analyst programming services.
(6)	Twenty-five thousand two hundred dollars ($25,200) for point to point data communications costs to comply with Medical Imaging System operating requirements.
(7)	Three thousand dollars ($3,000) to provide for annual training for members of the Medical Review Boards to keep them current on medical information included in the updated N.C. Physician's Guidelines for Driver Medical Evaluation.
(8)	Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for ongoing research to establish and verify the effectiveness of the Drivers Medical Evaluation Program in preventing accidents and improving the safety of the motoring public.
(9)	Seven thousand dollars ($7,000) to allow the DMV to periodically conduct Medical Review Customer Satisfaction Surveys before and after the Medical Imaging System is fully implemented to document the improvements in customer service and to seek feedback from affected drivers.
Section 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1997.