(1) (a) Beginning December 1, 2017, the department of human services in consultation with the department of corrections shall promulgate rules that require providers under each department's authority to use a medication formulary that has been developed collaboratively by departments, agencies, and providers. Public hospitals and licensed private hospitals may also, at their discretion, participate in the medication formulary. Using consulting services as necessary, the departments shall also develop processes for education and marketing related to information regarding the medication formulary and cooperative purchasing opportunities for facilities and providers. The processes for education and marketing required pursuant to this subsection (1) shall be completed on or before December 1, 2017.

(b) For the sole purpose of ensuring medication consistency for persons with mental health disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems, the department of corrections, counties, the division of youth services, community mental health centers, and other providers shall share patient-specific mental health and treatment information. All such information sharing must comply with confidentiality requirements, including any necessary memorandums of understanding between providers, set forth in the federal "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996", 45 CFR parts 2, 160, 162, and 164.

(2) Beginning July 1, 2018, the office shall have the following duties and responsibilities, subject to available appropriations:

(a) On or before September 1, 2018, and every September 1 of every even-numbered year thereafter, the office shall conduct a review of the medication formulary to address any urgent concerns related to the formulary and to propose updates to the formulary. During this review, the office shall also create the appropriate notification process for updates to the formulary.

(b) On or before July 1, 2019, and every two years thereafter as necessary, the office shall conduct a review of the medication formulary to update the medication formulary and ensure compliance with the medicaid formulary used by the department of health care policy and financing.

(c) On or before September 1, 2018, the office, in collaboration with the office of information technology, the office of e-health innovation, the department of health care policy and financing, the department of public safety, the department of corrections, and other agencies as appropriate, shall develop a plan by which the patient-specific information required by subsection (1)(b) of this section can be shared electronically, while still in compliance with confidentiality requirements, including any necessary memorandums of understanding between providers, set forth in the federal "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996", 45 CFR parts 2, 160, 162, and 164.

(d)

(I) The office shall encourage providers that have been granted purchasing authority by the department of personnel pursuant to section 24-102-204 to utilize cooperative purchasing for the medication formulary, as authorized pursuant to section 24-110-201, unless the provider can obtain the medication elsewhere at a lower cost. The use of cooperative purchasing may, and is encouraged to, include external procurement activity, as defined in section 24-110-101 (2), if the external procurement activity aggregates purchasing volume to negotiate discounts with manufacturers, distributors, and other vendors.

(II) Any external procurement activity, as defined in section 24-110-101 (2), used by providers for purposes of this article 70 is encouraged to include an ongoing drug utilization review process. The purpose of the review process is to help ensure a structured, ongoing review of health care provider prescribing, pharmacist dispensing, and patient use of medication. The review must include a comprehensive analysis of patients' prescription and medication data to help ensure appropriate medication decision-making and positive patient outcomes by providing educational feedback to providers on appropriate medication utilization.

(e) The office shall investigate and develop options for collaboration with local county jails to coordinate medication purchasing.

(3) (a) Beginning in January 2019, and every January thereafter, the department of human services and the department of corrections shall report progress on the implementation and use of the medication formulary and cooperative purchasing as part of each department's "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearing required by section 2-7-203. Each department shall make such reports to the joint health and human services committee and the joint judiciary committee, or any successor committees.

(b) This section is exempt from the provisions of section 24-1-136 (11), and the periodic reporting requirement of that section shall remain in effect until changed by the general assembly acting by bill.