Correctional Managed Health Care

Texas Correctional Facility Health Care » Current

During the 1999 legislative session, the Texas Legislature revised the Correctional Managed Health Care Advisory Committee.  Three public members were added and the word "Advisory" was taken out of the committee title.  The Committee was renamed the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee (CMHCC).  The oversight and compliance roles of the committee were strengthened by adding such functions as:

• Monitoring and developing reports on general quality of care issues and
• Enforcing compliance with contract provisions including corrective action if care does not meet expectations as determined by quality of care monitoring activities.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has been contracted to provide health (physical, mental, and dental) service for some 32,000 offenders housed in Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional facilities in West Texas.  The health service is provided on-site at the correctional facilities by using Texas Tech employees or subcontracting with local community hospitals to provide some or all of the unit medical personnel.

We have established contracts with supporting local emergency rooms, emergency medical transportation, and local providers for emergency care.  The next level of care includes our Western Regional Medical Center, a 50-bed acute care correctional hospital Lubbock, Texas.  Specialty consultation services are either available locally near the correctional facilities or from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center staff.  Fifteen of the correctional facilities are interconnected with the TTUHSC for consultative services through interactive telemedicine.

Additionally, we have implemented an Electronic Medical Record system which will provide great benefit to patients and providers alike.  Documenting and monitoring to ensure continuity of care will be greatly assisted by the electronic system.

Mental health services are provided on an outpatient basis at the correctional facilities by assigned or visiting mental health professionals or through an elaborate teleconsultative system.  Crisis management and psychiatric inpatient care is provided at our 550-bed  psychiatric hospital located at the Montford Unit in Lubbock, Texas.  Additionally, we operate a 450-bed inpatient program called the Program for the Aggressively Mentally Ill Offender (PAMIO) at the Clements Unit in Amarillo, Texas.

Future

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