Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB54 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R2892 JG-F
2	2	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 54
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the immunization data included in and excluded from the
8	8	immunization registry.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Sections 161.007(a), (a-2), (b), (b-1), (c), and
11	11	(d), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a) The department, for the primary purpose of establishing
13	13	and maintaining a single repository of accurate, complete, and
14	14	current immunization records to be used in aiding, coordinating,
15	15	and promoting efficient and cost-effective communicable disease
16	16	prevention and control efforts, shall establish and maintain an
17	17	immunization registry. The executive commissioner by rule shall
18	18	develop guidelines to:
19	19	(1) protect the confidentiality of patients in
20	20	accordance with Section 159.002, Occupations Code;
21	21	(2) inform the individual or the individual's legally
22	22	authorized representative about the registry and that registry
23	23	information may be released under Section 161.00735; and
24	24	(3) [require the written or electronic consent of the
25	25	individual or the individual's legally authorized representative
26	26	before any information relating to the individual is included in
27	27	the registry;
28	28	[(4)] permit the individual or the individual's
29	29	legally authorized representative to request that the individual's
30	30	information be removed from [withdraw consent for the individual to
31	31	be included in] the registry[; and
32	32	[(5) determine the process by which consent is
33	33	verified, including affirmation by a health care provider, birth
34	34	registrar, regional health information exchange, or local
35	35	immunization registry that consent has been obtained].
36	36	(a-2) [The written or electronic consent required by
37	37	Subsection (a)(3) for an individual who is 18 years of age or older
38	38	is required to be obtained only one time and must be received from
39	39	the individual before the information may be released.] An
40	40	individual's legally authorized representative or the individual,
41	41	after the individual has attained 18 years of age, may submit a
42	42	request [consent] in writing or electronically for the individual's
43	43	information to be removed from [remain in] the registry. [The
44	44	consent of the representative or individual is valid until the
45	45	individual or the individual's legally authorized representative
46	46	withdraws consent in writing or electronically. The department may
47	47	not include in the registry the immunization information of an
48	48	individual who is 26 years of age or older until written or
49	49	electronic consent has been obtained as provided by this
50	50	subsection.] The department shall coordinate with the Texas
51	51	Education Agency to distribute materials described in Section
52	52	161.0095(a)(2) to students and parents through local school
53	53	districts.
54	54	(b) Except as provided by Section 161.0071, the
55	55	immunization registry must contain information on the immunization
56	56	history that is obtained by the department under:
57	57	(1) this section of each individual for whom
58	58	immunization information [consent] has been obtained, unless the
59	59	individual or the individual's legally authorized representative
60	60	has requested that the individual's information be removed from the
61	61	registry in accordance with guidelines adopted under Subsection
62	62	(a);
63	63	(2) Section 161.00705 of persons immunized to prepare
64	64	for or in response to a declared disaster, public health emergency,
65	65	terrorist attack, hostile military or paramilitary action, or
66	66	extraordinary law enforcement emergency;
67	67	(3) Section 161.00706 of first responders or their
68	68	immediate family members; and
69	69	(4) Section 161.00735 of persons evacuated or
70	70	relocated to this state because of a disaster.
71	71	(b-1) The department shall remove from the registry
72	72	information for any individual for whom [consent has been
73	73	withdrawn. The department may not retain individually identifiable
74	74	information about any individual:
75	75	[(1) for whom consent has been withdrawn;
76	76	[(2) for whom a consent for continued inclusion in the
77	77	registry following the end of the declared disaster, public health
78	78	emergency, terrorist attack, hostile military or paramilitary
79	79	action, or extraordinary law enforcement emergency has not been
80	80	received under Section 161.00705(f);
81	81	[(3) for whom a request to be removed from the registry
82	82	has been received under Section 161.00706(e);
83	83	[(4) for whom consent for continued inclusion in the
84	84	registry following the end of a disaster has not been received under
85	85	Section 161.00735(f); or
86	86	[(5) for whom] a request to remove information from
87	87	the registry has been received under this subchapter [Section
88	88	161.00735(g)].
89	89	(c) A payor that receives data elements from a health care
90	90	provider who administers an immunization to an individual younger
91	91	than 18 years of age shall provide the data elements to the
92	92	department. A payor is required to provide the department with only
93	93	the data elements the payor receives from a health care provider. A
94	94	payor that receives data elements from a health care provider who
95	95	administers an immunization to an individual 18 years of age or
96	96	older may provide the data elements to the department. The data
97	97	elements shall be submitted in a format prescribed by the
98	98	department. [The department shall verify consent before including
99	99	the reported information in the immunization registry. The
100	100	department may not retain individually identifiable information
101	101	about an individual for whom consent cannot be verified.]
102	102	(d) A health care provider who administers an immunization
103	103	to an individual younger than 18 years of age shall provide data
104	104	elements regarding an immunization to the department. A health
105	105	care provider who administers an immunization to an individual 18
106	106	years of age or older may submit data elements regarding an
107	107	immunization to the department. At the request and with the
108	108	authorization of the health care provider, the data elements may be
109	109	submitted through a health information exchange as defined by
110	110	Section 182.151. The data elements shall be submitted in a format
111	111	prescribed by the department. [The department shall verify consent
112	112	before including the information in the immunization registry. The
113	113	department may not retain individually identifiable information
114	114	about an individual for whom consent cannot be verified.]
115	115	SECTION 2. Section 161.00705(f), Health and Safety Code, is
116	116	amended to read as follows:
117	117	(f) Unless an individual or the individual's legally
118	118	authorized representative requests [consents] in writing or
119	119	electronically that [to continued inclusion of] the individual's
120	120	information be removed from [in] the registry, the department shall
121	121	include [remove] the immunization records collected under this
122	122	section in [from] the registry [on expiration of the period
123	123	prescribed under Subsection (e)].
124	124	SECTION 3. Sections 161.0071(a) and (b), Health and Safety
125	125	Code, are amended to read as follows:
126	126	(a) The first time the department receives registry data for
127	127	an individual [for whom the department has received consent] to be
128	128	included in the registry, the department shall send notice to the
129	129	individual or the individual's legally authorized representative
130	130	disclosing:
131	131	(1) that providers and payors may be sending the
132	132	individual's immunization information to the department;
133	133	(2) the information that is included in the registry;
134	134	(3) the persons to whom the information may be
135	135	released under Sections 161.00735(b) and 161.008(d);
136	136	(4) the purpose and use of the registry;
137	137	(5) the procedure to exclude an individual from the
138	138	registry; and
139	139	(6) the procedure to report a violation if an
140	140	individual's information is included in the registry after
141	141	exclusion has been requested [or consent has been withdrawn].
142	142	(b) The [On discovering that consent to be included in the
143	143	registry has not been granted or has been withdrawn, the]
144	144	department shall exclude [the individual's immunization records]
145	145	from the registry and any other registry-related department record
146	146	that individually identifies the individual the immunization
147	147	record of any individual from whom a request for exclusion has been
148	148	received by the department.
149	149	SECTION 4. Sections 161.00735(c), (g), and (h), Health and
150	150	Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
151	151	(c) The department may receive immunization information
152	152	from a health authority of another state or from a local health
153	153	authority in another state if the department determines that
154	154	residents of that state have evacuated or relocated to this state in
155	155	response to a disaster. The department shall include information
156	156	received under this subsection in the registry. [Notwithstanding
157	157	Section 161.007, the department is not required to obtain written
158	158	consent for the inclusion in the registry of information received
159	159	under this subsection.]
160	160	(g) If an individual or, if a child, the child's parent,
161	161	managing conservator, or guardian requests in writing or
162	162	electronically that the individual's or child's information
163	163	obtained under Subsection (c) be removed from the registry, the
164	164	department shall remove that information from the registry.
165	165	(h) The executive commissioner shall make every effort to
166	166	enter into a memorandum of agreement with each state to which
167	167	residents of this state are likely to evacuate in a disaster on:
168	168	(1) the release to and use by [of registry information
169	169	under this section to] the appropriate health authority or local
170	170	health authority of that state of registry information under this
171	171	section[, including the length of time the information may be
172	172	retained by that state]; and
173	173	(2) the receipt and use of information submitted by
174	174	the health authority or local health authority of that state for
175	175	inclusion in the registry under this section.
176	176	SECTION 5. Section 161.008(c), Health and Safety Code, is
177	177	amended to read as follows:
178	178	(c) The department may obtain the data constituting an
179	179	immunization record for an individual from a public health
180	180	district, a local health department, the individual or the
181	181	individual's legally authorized representative, a physician to the
182	182	individual, a payor, or any health care provider licensed or
183	183	otherwise authorized to administer vaccines. [The department shall
184	184	verify consent before including the reported information in the
185	185	immunization registry. The department may not retain individually
186	186	identifiable information about an individual for whom consent
187	187	cannot be verified.]
188	188	SECTION 6. Section 161.0095(a), Health and Safety Code, is
189	189	amended to read as follows:
190	190	(a) The department shall develop:
191	191	(1) continuing education programs for health care
192	192	providers relating to immunizations and the vaccines for children
193	193	program operated by the department under authority of 42 U.S.C.
194	194	Section 1396s; and
195	195	(2) educational information, for health care
196	196	providers, health care clinics, hospitals, and any other health
197	197	care facility that provides health care to children 14 to 18 years
198	198	of age, relating to the immunization registry and the option for an
199	199	individual or the individual's legally authorized representative
200	200	to request removal [who is 18 years of age or older to consent to
201	201	submission and retention] of the individual's information from [in]
202	202	the immunization registry.
203	203	SECTION 7. Section 161.0107(c), Health and Safety Code, is
204	204	amended to read as follows:
205	205	(c) The executive commissioner by rule shall specify:
206	206	(1) the fields necessary to populate the immunization
207	207	registry[, including a field that indicates the patient's consent
208	208	to be listed in the immunization registry has been obtained]; and
209	209	(2) the data standards that must be used for
210	210	electronic submission of immunization information.
211	211	SECTION 8. The following provisions of the Health and
212	212	Safety Code are repealed:
213	213	(1) Sections 161.007(a-1), (a-3), (a-4), (a-5),
214	214	(a-6), and (e);
215	215	(2) Sections 161.00705(e) and (h); and
216	216	(3) Sections 161.00735(e) and (f).
217	217	SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Subchapter
218	218	A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, apply only to immunization
219	219	information received by the Department of State Health Services on
220	220	or after the effective date of this Act. The information received
221	221	by the department before the effective date of this Act is covered
222	222	by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
223	223	continued in effect for that purpose.
224	224	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.