Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4262 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R2308 SRA-D
2	2	By: Klick H.B. No. 4262
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to requirements for and prohibited uses of information
8	8	contained in the immunization registry.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Sections 161.007(a) and (a-1), Health and Safety
11	11	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;
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 legally
29	29	authorized representative to withdraw consent for the individual to
30	30	be included in the registry; [and]
31	31	(5) determine the process by which consent for the
32	32	individual's information to be included in the registry 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; and
36	36	(6) determine the process by which the immunization
37	37	information of a first responder or immediate family member of a
38	38	first responder may be accessed under Section 161.00708.
39	39	(a-1) The written or electronic consent required by
40	40	Subsection (a)(3) for an individual [younger than 18 years of age]
41	41	is required to be obtained only one time. The written or electronic
42	42	consent of the individual, or, for a minor child, the individual's
43	43	parent, managing conservator, or guardian must be submitted to the
44	44	department [before the individual's 18th birthday]. After consent
45	45	is submitted, the individual's immunization information may be
46	46	included in the registry [until the individual becomes 26 years of
47	47	age] unless the consent is withdrawn in writing or electronically[,
48	48	or renewed after the individual's 18th birthday as provided by
49	49	Subsection (a-2)]. A parent, managing conservator, or guardian of a
50	50	minor may provide the consent by using an electronic signature on
51	51	the minor's birth certificate.
52	52	SECTION 2. Section 161.00705, Health and Safety Code, is
53	53	amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections
54	54	(f-1), (f-2), (f-3), and (f-4) to read as follows:
55	55	(d) Sections 161.007, 161.0071, 161.0072, [and] 161.0074,
56	56	and 161.008 apply to the data elements submitted to the department
57	57	under this section, unless a provision in those sections conflicts
58	58	with a requirement in this section.
59	59	(e) The [executive commissioner by rule shall determine the
60	60	period during which the] information collected under this section
61	61	must remain in the immunization registry until the seventh
62	62	anniversary of the last day [following the end] of the disaster,
63	63	public health emergency, terrorist attack, hostile military or
64	64	paramilitary action, or extraordinary law enforcement emergency.
65	65	(f-1) The executive commissioner by rule shall develop
66	66	guidelines and procedures for obtaining the consent required by
67	67	Subsection (f) from an individual or the individual's legally
68	68	authorized representative for continued inclusion in the registry
69	69	of information collected under this section beyond the period
70	70	prescribed by Subsection (e).
71	71	(f-2) The department shall make a reasonable effort to
72	72	provide notice to an individual or an individual's legally
73	73	authorized representative of the inclusion of the individual's
74	74	immunization history in the registry under this section if the
75	75	consent required under Subsection (f) has not been obtained before
76	76	expiration of the period prescribed by Subsection (e). The
77	77	reasonable effort shall include at least two attempts by the
78	78	department to provide the notice required by this subsection by
79	79	telephone or e-mail, or by regular mail to the last known address of
80	80	the individual or the individual's legally authorized
81	81	representative. The notice must inform the individual or the
82	82	individual's legally authorized representative that the
83	83	individual's immunization records collected under this section
84	84	will be removed from the immunization registry on the expiration of
85	85	the period prescribed under Subsection (e) unless the individual or
86	86	the individual's legally authorized representative consents to
87	87	continued inclusion as provided by Subsection (f).
88	88	(f-3) The department shall make a reasonable effort to
89	89	obtain current contact information for written or electronic
90	90	notices sent by the department under Subsection (f-2) that are
91	91	returned due to incorrect address information.
92	92	(f-4) Consent for inclusion in the immunization registry
93	93	obtained under Section 161.007(a-1) must meet the consent
94	94	requirements of Subsection (f).
95	95	SECTION 3. Section 161.00708, Health and Safety Code, is
96	96	amended to read as follows:
97	97	Sec. 161.00708. ACCESS TO FIRST RESPONDER AND IMMEDIATE
98	98	FAMILY MEMBER IMMUNIZATION HISTORY. (a) The department shall
99	99	establish a process to provide an employer of a first responder with
100	100	direct access to the first responder's immunization information in
101	101	the immunization registry for verification of the first responder's
102	102	immunization history. The process must require:
103	103	(1) a first responder to provide electronic or written
104	104	consent before the employer is granted direct access to the first
105	105	responder's immunization information in the immunization registry;
106	106	and
107	107	(2) affirmation by the employer that the first
108	108	responder is a current employee of the employer.
109	109	(b) A first responder may withdraw consent provided under
110	110	Subsection (a)(1) at any time.
111	111	(c) [(b)] The department may establish a process to provide
112	112	a first responder or an immediate family member of a first responder
113	113	with access to the individual's personal [first responder's]
114	114	immunization information in the immunization registry.
115	115	SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
116	116	Code, is amended by adding Section 161.00709 to read as follows:
117	117	Sec. 161.00709. EXCLUSION REQUEST THROUGH SECURE INTERNET
118	118	PORTAL. The department shall develop and maintain a secure
119	119	Internet portal accessible through the department's Internet
120	120	website through which an individual or the individual's legally
121	121	authorized representative may request exclusion of the
122	122	individual's immunization records from the registry in accordance
123	123	with Section 161.0071(f).
124	124	SECTION 5. Section 161.0071, Health and Safety Code, is
125	125	amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
126	126	(f) An individual or the individual's legally authorized
127	127	representative may request exclusion of the individual's
128	128	immunization records from the registry through a secure Internet
129	129	portal accessed through the department's Internet website.
130	130	SECTION 6. Section 161.00735(e), Health and Safety Code, is
131	131	amended to read as follows:
132	132	(e) The [executive commissioner by rule shall determine the
133	133	period during which the] information collected under Subsection (c)
134	134	must remain in the immunization registry until the seventh
135	135	anniversary of the last day [following the end] of the disaster.
136	136	SECTION 7. Section 161.008, Health and Safety Code, is
137	137	amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection
138	138	(c-1) to read as follows:
139	139	(c) The department may obtain the data constituting an
140	140	immunization record for an individual from a public health
141	141	district, a local health department, the individual or the
142	142	individual's legally authorized representative, a physician to the
143	143	individual, a payor, or any health care provider licensed or
144	144	otherwise authorized to administer vaccines.
145	145	(c-1) Except as provided by Section 161.00705, the [The]
146	146	department shall verify consent before including the reported
147	147	information in the immunization registry. The department may not
148	148	retain individually identifiable information about an individual
149	149	for whom consent cannot be verified.
150	150	(d) The department may release the data constituting an
151	151	immunization record for the individual to:
152	152	(1) any entity that is described by Subsection (c);
153	153	(2) a school or child care facility in which the
154	154	individual is enrolled;
155	155	(3) a state agency having legal custody of the
156	156	individual; or
157	157	(4) an employer of a first responder, [or] a first
158	158	responder, or an immediate family member of a first responder in
159	159	accordance with Section 161.00708.
160	160	SECTION 8. Section 161.0107, Health and Safety Code, is
161	161	amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to
162	162	read as follows:
163	163	(c) The executive commissioner by rule shall specify:
164	164	(1) the fields necessary to populate the immunization
165	165	registry, including a "yes" or "no" field that indicates the
166	166	patient's consent to be listed in the immunization registry has
167	167	been obtained; and
168	168	(2) the data standards that must be used for
169	169	electronic submission of immunization information.
170	170	(e) The fields and data standards described by Subsection
171	171	(c) relating to a patient's consent may not include demographic
172	172	information of the patient.
173	173	SECTION 9. Sections 161.007(a-2), (a-3), (a-4), (a-5), and
174	174	(a-6), Health and Safety Code, are repealed.
175	175	SECTION 10. As soon as practicable after the effective date
176	176	of this Act, the Department of State Health Services shall develop
177	177	the secure Internet portal required by Section 161.00709, Health
178	178	and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
179	179	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.