H.B. No. 4029
AN ACT
relating to the release of certain health care information.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 241.151(2), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) "Health care information" means information,
including payment information, recorded in any form or medium that
identifies a patient and relates to the history, diagnosis,
treatment, or prognosis of a patient.
SECTION 2. Section 241.154, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection
(f) to read as follows:
(a) On receipt of a written authorization from a patient or
legally authorized representative to examine or copy all or part of
the patient's recorded health care information, except payment
information, or for disclosures under Section 241.153 not requiring
written authorization, a hospital or its agent, as promptly as
required under the circumstances but not later than the 15th day
after the date the request and payment authorized under Subsection
(b) are received, shall:
(1) make the information available for examination
during regular business hours and provide a copy to the requestor,
if requested; or
(2) inform the authorized requestor if the information
does not exist or cannot be found.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the hospital or
its agent may charge a reasonable fee for providing the health care
information except payment information and is not required to
permit the examination, copying, or release of the information
requested until the fee is paid unless there is a medical emergency.
The fee may not exceed the sum of:
(1) a basic retrieval or processing fee, which must
include the fee for providing the first 10 pages of the copies and
which may not exceed $30; and
(A) a charge for each page of:
(i) $1 for the 11th through the 60th page of
the provided copies;
(ii) 50 cents for the 61st through the 400th
page of the provided copies; and
(iii) 25 cents for any remaining pages of
the provided copies; and
(B) the actual cost of mailing, shipping, or
otherwise delivering the provided copies; [or]
(2) if the requested records are stored on [any]
microform [or other electronic medium], a retrieval or processing
fee, which must include the fee for providing the first 10 pages of
the copies and which may not exceed $45; and
(A) $1 per page thereafter; and
(B) the actual cost of mailing, shipping, or
otherwise delivering the provided copies; or
(3) if the requested records are provided on a digital
or other electronic medium and the requesting party requests
delivery in a digital or electronic medium, including electronic
mail:
(A) a retrieval or processing fee, which may not
exceed $75; and
(B) the actual cost of mailing, shipping, or
otherwise delivering the provided copies.
(f) A request from a patient or legally authorized
representative for payment information is subject to Section
311.002.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to the disclosure or exchange of health care information under
Subchapter G, Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, on or after the
effective date of this Act. The disclosure or exchange of health
care information before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law as it existed immediately before that date, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4029 was passed by the House on May 5,
2009, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 4029 on May 21, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 91, Nays 44,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 4029 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 18, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor