HB4396 HH&HR AM 2-20
The House Health and Human Resource Committee moves to amend
the bill on page one, following the enacting section, by striking
out the remainder of the bill, and inserting in lieu thereof the
following:
ARTICLE 29. HEALTH CARE RECORDS.
§16-29-3. Retention and destruction of health care records by
physicians, osteopaths and dentists.
(a) The health care records of all persons who are not
minors or under a disability, or both, under a physician,
osteopath or dentist's care, shall be retained by the custodian
of such records for seven years following the last date of
treatment or contact. The health care records of minors shall be
retained for a minimum of two years following the age of majority
or seven years following the last date of treatment or contact,
whichever comes later. The health care records of all persons
who are under a disability shall be retained for a minimum of two
years following the removal of the disability or seven years
following the last date of treatment or contact, whichever comes
later. The health care records of deceased persons shall be
retained for a minimum of seven years following the date of
death.
(b) These health care records may be computerized or
minified by the use of microfilm or any other similar electronic
or photographic process: Provided, That the method used shall create an unalterable record, after which the original records
may be destroyed.
(c) Diagnostic media filed with the medical record is
subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.
Diagnostic media retained separately from the medical record
shall be retained for at least five years, after which they may
be presented to the patient or destroyed: Provided, That
interpretations or separate reports of diagnostic media are
subject to subsection (a) of this section.
(d) If the custodian of any health care records subject to
retention ceases operation, it shall notify the Department of
Health and Human resources in writing of the arrangements it has
made for retention of the health care records. If the department
does not approve of the arrangements, it shall notify the
custodian of its disapproval within thirty days of receipt of the
notice and shall assist the custodian in making alternate
arrangements of which the department approves. If the custodian
is succeeded by another person, the burden of compliance with
this section shall rest with the successor.
(e) Health care records may be destroyed after the retention
period set forth in subsection (a) of this section or after
minification, in a manner that will preserve the confidentiality
of the information in the records: Provided, That the custodian
shall retain master patient indices permanently. The health care
records may be destroyed by incineration, shredding or pulping but may not be buried as a means of destruction and shall be
destroyed only in compliance with state and federal environmental
laws.
(f) Nothing in this section prohibits the retention of
health care records beyond the periods described in this section
or prohibits patient access to health care records as provided in
section one of this article. This section also does not negate
any other requirements in state or federal law.
(g) The following terms have the following definitions
as used in this section:
(1) "Custodian" means a physician, osteopath or a dentist.
(2) "Diagnostic media" includes laboratory slides, paraffin
blocks, X-ray films, electroencephalogram tracings, video tapes,
fetal strips, photographs and photographic images, the results of
which are entered into the medical record by means of written
interpretation.
(3) "Master patient indices" means, with respect to a
physician, osteopath or dentist, basic information including the
patient's name and birth date, a list of dated diagnoses and
intrusive treatments and a record of all drugs prescribed or
given.
(4) "Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen.