LCO No. 3619 1 of 7
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6489
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3619
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E DEPARTMENT OF PUBL IC HEALTH'S
RECOMMENDATIONS REGA RDING REMOTE ACCESS TO MEDICAL
RECORDS MAINTAINED B Y HOSPITALS AND HEAL TH CARE
PROVIDERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-215 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 2
(a) For the purposes of this section: 3
(1) "Clinical laboratory" means any facility or other area used for 4
microbiological, serological, chemical, hematological, 5
immunohematological, biophysical, cytological, pathological or other 6
examinations of human body fluids, secretions, excretions or excised or 7
exfoliated tissues, for the purpose of providing information for the 8
diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any human disease or 9
impairment, for the assessment of human health or for the presence of 10
drugs, poisons or other toxicological substances. 11
(2) "Commissioner's list of reportable diseases, emergency illnesses 12 Raised Bill No. 6489
LCO No. 3619 2 of 7
and health conditions" and "commissioner's list of reportable laboratory 13
findings" means the lists developed pursuant to section 19a-2a. 14
(3) "Confidential" means confidentiality of information pursuant to 15
section 19a-25. 16
(4) "Health care provider" means a person who has direct or 17
supervisory responsibility for the delivery of health care or medical 18
services, including licensed physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse 19
midwives, physician assistants, nurses, dentists, medical examiners and 20
administrators, superintendents and managers of health care facilities. 21
(5) "Reportable diseases, emergency illnesses and health conditions" 22
means the diseases, illnesses, conditions or syndromes designated by 23
the Commissioner of Public Health on the list required pursuant to 24
section 19a-2a. 25
(b) A health care provider shall report each case occurring in such 26
provider's practice, of any disease on the commissioner's list of 27
reportable diseases, emergency illnesses and health conditions to the 28
director of health of the town, city or borough in which such case resides 29
and to the Department of Public Health, no later than twelve hours after 30
such provider's recognition of the disease. Such reports shall be in 31
writing, by telephone or in an electronic format approved by the 32
commissioner. [Such reports of disease shall be confidential and not 33
open to public inspection except as provided for in section 19a-25.] 34
(c) A clinical laboratory shall report each finding identified by such 35
laboratory of any disease identified on the commissioner's list of 36
reportable laboratory findings to the Department of Public Health not 37
later than forty-eight hours after such laboratory's finding. A clinical 38
laboratory that reports an average of more than thirty findings per 39
month shall make such reports electronically in a format approved by 40
the commissioner. Any clinical laboratory that reports an average of less 41
than thirty findings per month shall submit such reports, in writing, by 42
telephone or in an electronic format approved by the commissioner. [All 43
such reports shall be confidential and not open to public inspection 44 Raised Bill No. 6489
LCO No. 3619 3 of 7
except as provided for in section 19a-25.] The Department of Public 45
Health shall provide a copy of all such reports to the director of health 46
of the town, city or borough in which the affected person resides or, in 47
the absence of such information, the town where the specimen 48
originated. 49
(d) When a local director of health, the local director's authorized 50
agent or the Department of Public Health receives a report of a disease 51
or laboratory finding on the commissioner's lists of reportable diseases, 52
emergency illnesses and health conditions and laboratory findings, the 53
local director of health, the local director's authorized agent or the 54
Department of Public Health may contact first the reporting health care 55
provider and then the person with the reportable finding to obtain such 56
information as may be necessary to lead to the effective control of 57
further spread of such disease. In the case of reportable communicable 58
diseases and laboratory findings, this information may include 59
obtaining the identification of persons who may be the source or 60
subsequent contacts of such infection. 61
(e) A hospital, as defined in section 19a-490 and licensed pursuant to 62
chapter 368v, shall provide the Department of Public Health with access, 63
including remote access if technically feasible, in a manner approved by 64
the Commissioner of Public Health, to the entirety of each electronic 65
medical record that concerns a reportable disease, emergency illness or 66
health condition listed by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision (9) 67
of section 19a-2a that occurs at such hospital. 68
[(e)] (f) All personal information obtained from disease prevention 69
and control investigations [as performed in subsections (c) and (d) of] 70
pursuant to this section including the health care provider's name and 71
the identity of the reported case of disease and suspected source persons 72
and contacts shall not be divulged to anyone and shall be held strictly 73
confidential pursuant to section 19a-25, by the local director of health 74
and the director's authorized agent and by the Department of Public 75
Health. 76 Raised Bill No. 6489
LCO No. 3619 4 of 7
[(f)] (g) Any person who violates any reporting or confidentiality 77
provision of this section shall be fined not more than five hundred 78
dollars. No provision of this section shall be deemed to supersede 79
section 19a-584. 80
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 19a-72 of the general statutes is 81
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 82
1, 2021): 83
(c) [The] (1) A health care provider shall provide the Department of 84
Public Health, [shall be provided such] at the request of the department, 85
with access to the clinical records of any [health care provider] patient, 86
as the department deems necessary, to perform case finding or other 87
quality improvement audits to ensure completeness of reporting and 88
data accuracy consistent with the purposes of this section. 89
(2) A hospital shall provide the Department of Public Health with 90
access, including remote access if technically feasible, to the entirety of 91
a patient's medical record, as the department deems necessary, to 92
perform case finding or other quality improvement audits to ensure 93
completeness of reporting and data accuracy consistent with the 94
purposes of this section. No personal information obtained from the 95
medical record shall be divulged to anyone and shall be held strictly 96
confidential pursuant to section 19a-25 by the Department of Public 97
Health. 98
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) (a) On or after July 1, 2021, the 99
Department of Public Health shall establish a one-year pilot program to 100
initially test the impact of providing remote access to electronic medical 101
records maintained by a hospital, for the purposes of carrying out its 102
duties pursuant to sections 7-48, 7-60, 7-62b and 19a-53 of the general 103
statutes. A hospital, as identified by the Connecticut Hospital 104
Association, shall provide the Department of Public Health with remote 105
access to the entirety of a medical record, as the department deems 106
necessary, to perform quality improvement audits to ensure 107
completeness of reporting and data accuracy of birth, fetal death and 108 Raised Bill No. 6489
LCO No. 3619 5 of 7
death occurrences. No personal information obtained from the medical 109
record shall be divulged to anyone and shall be held strictly confidential 110
pursuant to section 19a-25 of the general statutes by the Department of 111
Public Health. 112
(b) On or after July 1, 2022, following implementation of the pilot 113
program established under subsection (a) of this section, the 114
Commissioner of Public Health shall evaluate said pilot program to 115
ascertain specific improved data accuracy, timeliness and any cost 116
efficiencies achieved. Not later than thirty days following completion of 117
said pilot program, the commissioner shall determine whether the 118
program shall be fully implemented. If the pilot program is to be fully 119
implemented, remote access shall be given on a continual basis to the 120
Department of Public Health to perform quality improvement audits to 121
ensure completeness of reporting and data accuracy of birth, fetal death 122
and death occurrences. 123
Sec. 4. Section 19a-59h of the general statutes is repealed and the 124
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 125
(a) As used in this section and section 19a-59i, "maternal death" 126
means the death of a woman while pregnant or not later than one year 127
after the date on which the woman ceases to be pregnant, regardless of 128
whether the woman's death is related to her pregnancy, and 129
"department" means the Department of Public Health. 130
(b) There is established, within the department, a maternal mortality 131
review program. The program shall be responsible for identifying 132
maternal death cases in Connecticut and reviewing medical records and 133
other relevant data related to each maternal death case, including, but 134
not limited to, information collected from death and birth records, files 135
from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and physician office and 136
hospital records. 137
(c) Licensed health care providers, health care facilities and 138
pharmacies shall provide the maternal mortality review program, 139
established under this section with reasonable access to all relevant 140 Raised Bill No. 6489
LCO No. 3619 6 of 7
medical records associated with a maternal death case under review by 141
the program. 142
(d) A hospital shall provide the department with access, including 143
remote access if technically feasible, to the entirety of a patient's medical 144
record, as the department deems necessary, to review case information 145
related to a maternal death case under review by the program. All 146
personal information obtained from the medical record shall not be 147
divulged to anyone and shall be held strictly confidential pursuant to 148
section 19a-25 by the department. 149
[(d)] (e) All information obtained by the department for the maternal 150
mortality review program shall be confidential pursuant to section 19a-151
25. 152
[(e)] (f) Notwithstanding subsection [(d)] (e) of this section, the 153
department may provide the maternal mortality review committee, 154
established pursuant to section 19a-59i, with information as is necessary, 155
in the department's discretion, for the committee to make 156
recommendations regarding the prevention of maternal death. 157
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 19a-215
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 19a-72(c)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2021 19a-59h
Statement of Purpose:
To allow the Department of Public Health to have remote access to
electronic medical records of hospitals that involve reportable diseases,
emergency illnesses and health conditions or reportable tumors, to
establish a pilot program to determine the impact of providing remote
access to certain electronic medical records maintained by a hospital and
to require hospitals to provide the Department of Public Health with
access to certain medical records related to maternal death. Raised Bill No. 6489
LCO No. 3619 7 of 7
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]