SB 262
Department of Legislative Services
Maryland General Assembly
2021 Session
FISCAL AND POLICY NOTE
Third Reader
Senate Bill 262 (Senator Eckardt)
Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Health and Government Operations
Department of Information Technology - Study of a Common Information
Technology Platform for Health Occupations Boards
This bill requires the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), in consultation with
the health occupations boards, to (1) review the information technology (IT) platforms used
by each board, including the administrative functions used by each board and the cost of
operating the platforms and (2) make recommendations on the feasibility and cost of
developing a common and standardized platform for use by each board, as specified. DoIT
must submit its findings and recommendations to specified committees of the General
Assembly by December 1, 2021. The bill takes effect July 1, 2021.
Fiscal Summary
State Effect: General fund expenditures increase by $250,000 in FY 2022 only. Revenues
are not affected.
(in dollars) FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025 FY 2026
Revenues $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
GF Expenditure 250,000 0 0 0 0
Net Effect ($250,000) $0 $0 $0 $0
Note:() = decrease; GF = general funds; FF = federal funds; SF = special funds; - = indeterminate increase; (-) = indeterminate decrease
Local Effect: The bill does not affect local governmental operations or finances.
Small Business Effect: None.
Analysis
Bill Summary: DoIT’s recommendations must include the cost and feasibility of:
adopting a standardized website appearance and functionality for all boards;
offering each board the ability to send automated notices;
the ability to translate the website of each board into other languages, as specified;
offering a standardized method of presenting information to regulated health care
providers and the public on licensing or certification, meeting scheduling and
agendas, board membership and staff, public notices, and complaint processing; and
if possible, using existing platforms employed by the boards, if consistent with the
statewide IT master plan, in developing the common platform.
Current Law:
Health Occupations Boards
Twenty health occupations boards share responsibility for regulating various health
professions in Maryland. The boards are responsible for the examination, licensure,
certification, or registration; regulation; and discipline of more than 388,000 health care
providers. Additionally, the boards set standards of practice and continuing education
requirements. The boards charged with regulating the health care professionals are
generally funded through various fees, including license fees and registration fees. Most
boards regulate 5,000 or fewer active licensees, registrants, and certificate holders;
however, this number ranges from about 500 (for the Board of Podiatric Medical
Examiners) to about 240,000 (for the Board of Nursing).
Department of Information Technology and OneStop
DoIT and the Secretary of Information Technology are, among other things, responsible
for (1) developing and enforcing IT policies, procedures, and standards; (2) providing
technical assistance, advice, and recommendations to any unit of State government; and
(3) developing and maintaining a statewide IT master plan. Certain agencies, such as the
Maryland Stadium Authority and the University System of Maryland, are exempt from
DoIT’s direct oversight.
DoIT is currently working to consolidate all of the State’s license and certification
platforms into a single platform known as the OneStop portal. The ultimate goal of the
project is to retire outdated State paper-based applications and legacy databases used by
many agencies for licensing, as these systems can be expensive to maintain and present
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significant cybersecurity risks. As the project proceeds, DoIT plans to collaborate with
State agencies, a few at a time, to convert their systems to OneStop.
State Expenditures: DoIT is currently working with a contractor to develop and
implement the OneStop portal discussed above. As the ultimate goal of OneStop is to
consolidate all the State’s licensing systems into a single platform, the contractor is the
entity most appropriate to determine how best to consolidate the health occupations boards’
websites and licensing systems. DoIT advises that the contractor estimates the cost of the
feasibility study required by the bill to be $250,000; the Department of Legislative Services
concurs with this estimate. Therefore, general fund expenditures increase by $250,000 in
fiscal 2022 to conduct the evaluation and develop the recommendations required by the
bill.
Additional Information
Prior Introductions: SB 1045 of 2020 received a hearing in the Senate Education, Health,
and Environmental Affairs Committee, but no further action was taken. Its cross file,
HB 1447 of 2020, passed the House and was referred to the Senate Education, Health, and
Environmental Affairs Committee, but no further action was taken.
Designated Cross File: HB 224 (Delegate Krebs) - Health and Government Operations.
Information Source(s): Department of Information Technology; Maryland Department
of Health; Department of Legislative Services
Fiscal Note History: First Reader - January 12, 2021
rh/mcr Third Reader - February 2, 2021
Analysis by: Richard L. Duncan Direct Inquiries to:
(410) 946-5510
(301) 970-5510
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