| 3 | 2 | | *JMB283* 01/28/2025 8:11:48 AM JMB283 |
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| 4 | 3 | | State of Arkansas 1 |
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| 5 | 4 | | 95th General Assembly A Bill 2 |
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| 6 | 5 | | Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 137 3 |
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| 7 | 6 | | 4 |
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| 8 | 7 | | By: Senator J. Boyd 5 |
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| 9 | 8 | | By: Representative Achor 6 |
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| 10 | 9 | | 7 |
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| 11 | 10 | | For An Act To Be Entitled 8 |
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| 12 | 11 | | AN ACT TO PERMIT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TO MAINTAIN 9 |
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| 13 | 12 | | MEDICAL RECORDS IN AN ELECTRONIC FORMAT; AND FOR 10 |
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| 14 | 13 | | OTHER PURPOSES. 11 |
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| 15 | 14 | | 12 |
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| 16 | 15 | | 13 |
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| 17 | 16 | | Subtitle 14 |
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| 18 | 17 | | TO PERMIT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TO 15 |
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| 19 | 18 | | MAINTAIN MEDICAL RECORDS IN AN 16 |
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| 20 | 19 | | ELECTRONIC FORMAT. 17 |
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| 21 | 20 | | 18 |
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| 22 | 21 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19 |
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| 23 | 22 | | 20 |
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| 24 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 9, Subchapter 1, is amended 21 |
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| 25 | 24 | | to add an additional section to read as follows: 22 |
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| 26 | 25 | | 20-9-106. Electronic medical records — Definitions. 23 |
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| 27 | 26 | | (a) As used in this section: 24 |
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| 28 | 27 | | (1) "Healthcare provider" means: 25 |
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| 29 | 28 | | (A) An individual who is licensed, certified, or otherwise 26 |
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| 30 | 29 | | authorized by a licensing authority of this state to administer healthcare 27 |
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| 31 | 30 | | services in the ordinary course of his or her business or practice; or 28 |
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| 32 | 31 | | (B) A healthcare facility including without limitation a 29 |
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| 33 | 32 | | hospital, pharmacy, long -term care facility, office of a healthcare 30 |
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| 34 | 33 | | professional, or a hospice facility; 31 |
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| 35 | 34 | | (2) "Medical record" means a patient’s health record, including 32 |
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| 36 | 35 | | without limitation evaluations, diagnoses, prognoses, laboratory reports, X -33 |
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| 37 | 36 | | rays, prescriptions, and other technical information used in assessing the 34 |
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| 38 | 37 | | patient’s condition, or the pertinent portion of the record relating to a 35 |
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| 39 | 38 | | specific condition or a summary of the record; and 36 SB137 |
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| 40 | 39 | | |
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| 41 | 40 | | 2 01/28/2025 8:11:48 AM JMB283 |
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| 42 | 41 | | (3) "Patient" means a person who has received healthcare 1 |
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| 43 | 42 | | services from a healthcare provider. 2 |
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| 44 | 43 | | (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, a 3 |
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| 45 | 44 | | healthcare provider may, in its sole discretion, create, maintain, transmit, 4 |
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| 46 | 45 | | receive, and store medical records in an electronic format and may, in its 5 |
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| 47 | 46 | | sole discretion, temporarily or permanently convert records into an 6 |
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| 48 | 47 | | electronic format. 7 |
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| 49 | 48 | | (c)(1) A healthcare provider is not required to maintain separate 8 |
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| 50 | 49 | | tangible copies of electronically stored medical records. 9 |
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| 51 | 50 | | (2) However, the healthcare provider shall maintain 10 |
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| 52 | 51 | | electronically stored medical records in a legible and retrievable form, 11 |
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| 53 | 52 | | including adequate data backup. 12 |
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| 54 | 53 | | (d) This section is subject to all applicable federal laws governing 13 |
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| 55 | 54 | | the security and confidentiality of a patient’s personal health information. 14 |
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| 56 | 55 | | (e) A tangible copy of a medical record reproduced from an 15 |
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| 57 | 56 | | electronically stored record shall be considered an original for purposes of 16 |
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| 58 | 57 | | providing copies to patients or other authorized parties and for introduction 17 |
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| 59 | 58 | | of the medical record into evidence in administrative or court proceedings. 18 |
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| 60 | 59 | | (f)(1) Except as provided otherwise under federal law, upon receiving 19 |
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| 61 | 60 | | a request for a copy of a medical record from a patient or an authorized 20 |
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| 62 | 61 | | person, a healthcare provider shall provide copies of the medical record in 21 |
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| 63 | 62 | | either tangible or electronically stored form. 22 |
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| 64 | 63 | | (2) Except as provided otherwise under federal law, if a 23 |
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| 65 | 64 | | healthcare provider is audited by a health benefit plan, a pharmacy benefit 24 |
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| 66 | 65 | | manager, or a third-party entity involved in health benefits, the auditor 25 |
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| 67 | 66 | | shall accept an electronic version of the medical record in lieu of a 26 |
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| 68 | 67 | | physical medical record. 27 |
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| 69 | 68 | | (g) This section applies to psychiatric, psychological, or other 28 |
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| 70 | 69 | | mental health medical records of a patient. 29 |
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| 71 | 70 | | 30 |
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| 72 | 71 | | 31 |
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