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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Cisneros
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/14/07
HB
SHORT TITLE Stroke Victim Rehabilitation Pilot Program
SB 951
ANALYST Geisler
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$1,000.0
Recurring
General
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates: HB 980, HB 1056
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Aging and Long-Term Services Department (ALTSD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 951 appropriates $1,000,000 from the general fund to the Aging and Long-Term
Services Department (ALTSD) in FY 08 to support a pilot program using advanced technology
for rehabilitation of stroke victims and treatment of other brain injuries, including upper body
injuries and pre- or post- evaluations for surgeries. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance
remaining at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the general fund.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
ALTSD notes that the appropriation of $1 million to ALTSD for this program is not included in
the executive budget request for the department. Most likely the funds would be contracted out.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
A pilot program is proposed to test the usefulness of an advanced technology in the rehabilitation
of motor function in individuals who have an acquired brain injury. These injuries can result
from several forms of stroke, resulting in anoxia. The loss of oxygen and/or glucose supply to
nerves and tissues, located centrally in the brain or peripherally in the extremities, often result in
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Senate Bill 951 – Page
2
impaired motor control and coordination. Similarly, traumatic brain injuries can affect areas of
the brain that control motor function and coordination, leading to impaired functioning of the
upper extremities.
Rehabilitative treatment planning for those with brain-injury-related impaired motor function is
critically dependent upon obtaining objective clinical measurements. It is believed that the most
likely use of these funds is to contract for use the Automated Pegboard System (APB2000) to
objectively quantify improvement in motor function over time. This system's reliability and
validity were tested in 2003 in California through a multi-facility study and results were
published in The Journal of Applied Research.
Two groups of subjects were matched in this study for age, hand dominance, and gender and
screened to rule out visual, cognitive, and upper extremity mobility impairments that might
confound results. The control group consisted of seven (7) healthy adults (with a mean age of
67.4 yrs), while the test group consisted of seven (7) medically stable brain-injured adults, who
were recovering from some form of stroke (with a mean age of 69.17 yrs). Results of the study
support the APB2000's use as a highly reliable tool to provide clinical measurements for baseline
and progression testing in both populations. Validity scores however, were low, but likely could
be improved with larger sample sizes to reduce the effect of outliers. These results suggest that
this equipment provides an objective clinical measurement of upper extremity motor function for
rehabilitative treatment planning.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
ALTSD notes that piloting this rehabilitation equipment may constitute human subject research
in which case all legal guidelines for such research would need to be adhered to.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
There would be minimal administrative impact on ALTSD. ALTSD would be required to RFP
the contractual services.
DUPLICATION
SB 951 is duplicated by HB 980 and HB 1056.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
ALTSD notes that the pilot program proposed for use of the equipment is not described. It is
unknown whether the pilot study is to further test the equipment itself or to use the equipment to
measure the effectiveness of other therapeutic measures.
ALTERNATIVES
The funding in this bill might be directed to an entity that is familiar with medical related
projects, such as the Health Sciences Center at the University of New Mexico.
GG/csd