By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 2383
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2383:
By: Gonzales C.S.H.B. No. 2383
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the receipt and release of immunization information by
the immunization registry in connection with a disaster.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 161.007(a), (b), (b-1), and (j), Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department, for the primary purpose of establishing
and maintaining a single repository of accurate, complete, and
current immunization records to be used in aiding, coordinating,
and promoting efficient and cost-effective childhood communicable
disease prevention and control efforts, shall establish and
maintain an immunization registry. The department by rule shall
develop guidelines to:
(1) protect the confidentiality of patients in
accordance with Section 159.002, Occupations Code;
(2) inform a parent, managing conservator, or guardian
of each patient younger than 18 years of age about the registry and
that registry information may be released under Section 161.00735;
(3) require the written consent of a parent, managing
conservator, or guardian of a patient younger than 18 years of age
before any information relating to the patient is included in the
registry;
(4) permit a parent, managing conservator, or guardian
of a patient younger than 18 years of age to withdraw consent for
the patient to be included in the registry; and
(5) determine the process by which consent is
verified, including affirmation by a health care provider, birth
registrar, regional health information exchange, or local
immunization registry that consent has been obtained.
(b) The immunization registry must contain information on
the immunization history that is obtained by the department under:
(1) this section of each person who is younger than 18
years of age and for whom consent has been obtained in accordance
with guidelines adopted under Subsection (a);
(2) Section 161.00705 of persons immunized to prepare
for or in response to a declared disaster, public health emergency,
terrorist attack, hostile military or paramilitary action, or
extraordinary law enforcement emergency; [and]
(3) Section 161.00706 of first responders or their
immediate family members; and
(4) Section 161.00735 of persons evacuated or
relocated to this state because of a disaster.
(b-1) The department shall remove from the registry
information for any person for whom consent has been
withdrawn. The department may not retain individually
identifiable information about any person:
(1) for whom consent has been withdrawn;
(2) for whom a consent for continued inclusion in the
registry following the end of the declared disaster, public health
emergency, terrorist attack, hostile military or paramilitary
action, or extraordinary law enforcement emergency has not been
received under Section 161.00705(f); [or]
(3) for whom a request to be removed from the registry
has been received under Section 161.00706(e);
(4) for whom consent for continued inclusion in the
registry following the end of a disaster has not been received under
Section 161.00735(f); or
(5) for whom a request to remove information from the
registry has been received under Section 161.00735(g).
(j) Except as provided by Sections 161.00705, 161.00706,
161.00735(b), and 161.008, information obtained by the department
for the immunization registry is confidential and may be disclosed
only with the written consent of the individual or, if a child, the
child's parent, managing conservator, or guardian.
SECTION 2. Sections 161.00706(c) and (d), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall:
(1) develop rules to ensure that immunization history
submitted under Subsection (a)(2) is medically verified
immunization information;
(2) develop guidelines for use by the department in
informing first responders about the registry and that registry
information may be released under Section 161.00735; and
(3) adopt rules necessary for the implementation of
this section.
(d) Except as provided by Section 161.00735, a [A] person's
immunization history or data received by the department under this
section may be released only on consent of the person or to any
health care provider licensed or otherwise authorized to administer
vaccines.
SECTION 3. Section 161.0071(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The first time the department receives registry data for
a child for whom the department has received consent to be included
in the registry, from a person other than the child's parent,
managing conservator, or guardian, the department shall send a
written notice to the child's parent, managing conservator, or
guardian disclosing:
(1) that providers and payors may be sending the
child's immunization information to the department;
(2) the information that is included in the registry;
(3) the persons to whom the information may be
released under Sections 161.00735(b) and [Section] 161.008(d);
(4) the purpose and use of the registry;
(5) the procedure to exclude a child from the
registry; and
(6) the procedure to report a violation if a parent,
managing conservator, or guardian discovers a child is included in
the registry after exclusion has been requested.
SECTION 4. Section 161.0073(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Sections [Section] 161.00705 and
161.00735, information that individually identifies a child or
other individual that is received by the department for the
immunization registry is confidential and may be used by the
department for registry purposes only.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 161.00735 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.00735. RELEASE AND RECEIPT OF REGISTRY DATA IN
DISASTER. (a) In this section, "disaster" has the meaning assigned
by Section 418.004, Government Code.
(b) If the department determines that residents of this
state have evacuated or relocated to another state in response to a
disaster, the department may release registry data, except registry
data obtained under Section 161.00705, to the appropriate health
authority of that state or to local health authorities in that
state.
(c) The department may receive immunization information
from a health authority of another state or from a local health
authority in another state if the department determines that
residents of that state have evacuated or relocated to this state in
response to a disaster. The department shall include information
received under this subsection in the registry. Notwithstanding
Section 161.007, the department is not required to obtain written
consent for the inclusion in the registry of information received
under this subsection.
(d) Immunization information received under Subsection (c)
is subject to Section 161.0073, and may not be released except as
authorized by this chapter.
(e) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission, by rule, shall determine the period during
which the information collected under Subsection (c) must remain in
the immunization registry following the end of the disaster.
(f) Unless an individual or, if a child, the child's parent,
managing conservator, or guardian consents in writing to continued
inclusion of the individual's or child's information in the
registry, the department shall remove the immunization records
collected under Subsection (c) from the registry on the expiration
of the period prescribed by Subsection (e).
(g) If an individual or, if a child, the child's parent,
managing conservator, or guardian requests in writing that the
individual's or child's information obtained under Subsection (c)
be removed from the registry, the department shall remove that
information from the registry.
(h) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall make every effort to enter into a
memorandum of agreement with each state to which residents of this
state are likely to evacuate in a disaster on:
(1) the release and use of registry information under
this section to the appropriate health authority or local health
authority of that state, including the length of time the
information may be retained by that state; and
(2) the receipt and use of information submitted by
the health authority or local health authority of that state for
inclusion in the registry under this section.
SECTION 6. Section 161.009(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) negligently releases or discloses immunization
registry information in violation of Section 161.007, 161.0071,
161.0073, or 161.008;
(2) fails to exclude a child's immunization
information in violation of Section 161.0071;
(3) fails to remove a person's immunization
information in violation of Section 161.00705, [or] 161.00706, or
161.00735; or
(4) negligently uses information in the immunization
registry to solicit new patients or clients or for other purposes
that are not associated with immunization or quality-of-care
purposes, unless authorized under this section.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.