The UNM Health Sciences Center is requesting $1 million from the state Legislature to launch a new program aimed at getting in step with sweeping changes in federal regulations on corporate compliance.
The request is part of the University's 2004-05 budget proposal, which will likely be considered during the Legislature's January session, UNM Regent Mel Eaves said.
"This will be a brand new program, a much improved program," Eaves said. "I think it is well justified. It (compliance) is prevention, really, rather than waiting until problems arise."
Philip Eaton, vice president for Health Sciences, said rules on compliance have grown in number and complexity during the past five years. One major focus area of the most recent changes in regulations is patient privacy.
Advancements in genetic research have blurred the definition of patient privacy, he said.
Releasing a patient's genetic information, Eaton said, could affect someone's ability to get a job or health insurance.
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"If you are a Caucasian American from Kansas, it's likely that if you come down with, say, prostate cancer, we can now look at the gene and tell why," Eaton said. "So all of a sudden, we have now broken the privacy of everyone in Kansas with the same gene expression."
This lack of clarity has caused problems at the federal level, he said.
"The question becomes how do we protect not just a patient's genetic information, but everything else, too?" Eaton said. "From that shadow has grown this enormous industry of compliance."
All health care centers, from the smallest rural clinic to the largest full-service hospital, are required to implement new compliance programs, he said.
The problem is the federal government isn't funding the programs, Eaton said.
"I feel like this is my first priority," he said. "If I can get the money, I can convert an un-funded mandate into a funded one."
Eaton said getting the funds from the Legislature will not be an easy task.
"In this year there's going to be a tight budget up there (in Santa Fe)," he said. "There are going to be a lot of valid requests. It may well be very hard to get this."
The new regulations so far require health centers meet two criteria: that a compliance program is in place, and that the program has a high-level liaison in charge who answers directly to the organization's top administrator.
At UNM, Eaton said, that person is Sherrill Delahoussaye, a California attorney who has been charged with a "staggering task."
Delahoussaye could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Eaton said she will attend several national meetings each year and communicate on the Internet with other compliance directors to keep the Health Sciences Center in line with the ever-changing federal regulations.
"What she puts into writing today will probably have to be changed tomorrow," Eaton said.
There is no deadline for when the program must be fully functional, he said, but federal officials will likely check the center's progress while they conduct various accreditation evaluations for components of the health center.
The new standards don't mean traditional compliance issues - such as billing, laboratory specifications and teaching - will be forgotten, Eaton said.
"There have been situations in the past at HSC where there were problems," Regent Eaves said. "We have to make sure federal funds are spent properly, and we're going to enforce these things. This is a high priority with at least some of the regents and with (UNM) President Caldera."
