Senate Bill No. 24–Senator Neal
CHAPTER..........
AN ACT relating to health care records; authorizing certain persons to access the health care records of certain deceased patients; revising the provisions regarding reporting of examination results by medical laboratories; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 629.061 is hereby amended to read as follows:
629.061 1. Each provider of health care shall make the health
care records of a patient available for physical inspection by:
(a) The patient or a representative with written authorization
from the patient;
(b) The personal representative of the estate of a deceased
patient;
(c) The parent or guardian of a deceased patient who died
before reaching the age of majority;
(d) An investigator for the Attorney General or a grand jury
investigating an alleged violation of NRS 200.495, 200.5091 to
200.50995, inclusive, or 422.540 to 422.570, inclusive;
[(c)] (e) An investigator for the Attorney General investigating
an alleged violation of NRS 616D.200, 616D.220, 616D.240 or
616D.300 to 616D.440, inclusive, or any fraud in the administration
of chapter 616A, 616B, 616C, 616D or 617 of NRS or in the
provision of benefits for industrial insurance; or
[(d)] (f) Any authorized representative or investigator of a state
licensing board during the course of any investigation authorized by
law.
The records must be made available at a place within the depository
convenient for physical inspection, and inspection must be permitted
at all reasonable office hours and for a reasonable length of time. If
the records are located outside this state, the provider shall make
any records requested pursuant to this section available in this state
for inspection within 10 working days after the request.
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the provider
of health care shall also furnish a copy of the records to each person
described in subsection 1 who requests it and pays the actual cost of
postage, if any, the costs of making the copy, not to exceed 60 cents
per page for photocopies and a reasonable cost for copies of X-ray
photographs and other health care records produced by similar
processes. No administrative fee or additional service fee of any
kind may be charged for furnishing such a copy.
3. The provider of health care shall also furnish a copy of any
records that are necessary to support a claim or appeal under any
provision of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 301 et seq., or
under any federal or state financial needs-based benefit program,
without charge, to a patient, or a representative with written
authorization from the patient, who requests it, if the request is
accompanied by documentation of the claim or appeal. A copying
fee, not to exceed 60 cents per page for photocopies and a
reasonable cost for copies of X-ray photographs and other health
care records produced by similar processes, may be charged by the
provider of health care for furnishing a second copy of the records
to support the same claim or appeal. No administrative fee or
additional service fee of any kind may be charged for furnishing
such a copy. The provider of health care shall furnish the copy of
the records requested pursuant to this subsection within 30 days
after the date of receipt of the request, and the provider of health
care shall not deny the furnishing of a copy of the records pursuant
to this subsection solely because the patient is unable to pay the fees
established in this subsection.
4. Each person who owns or operates an ambulance in this
state shall make his records regarding a sick or injured patient
available for physical inspection by:
(a) The patient or a representative with written authorization
from the patient; [or]
(b) The personal representative of the estate of a deceased
patient;
(c) The parent or guardian of a deceased patient who died
before reaching the age of majority; or
(d) Any authorized representative or investigator of a state
licensing board during the course of any investigation authorized by
law.
The records must be made available at a place within the depository
convenient for physical inspection, and inspection must be permitted
at all reasonable office hours and for a reasonable length of time.
The person who owns or operates an ambulance shall also furnish a
copy of the records to each person described in this subsection who
requests it and pays the actual cost of postage, if any, and the costs
of making the copy, not to exceed 60 cents per page for
photocopies. No administrative fee or additional service fee of any
kind may be charged for furnishing a copy of the records.
5. Records made available to a representative or investigator
must not be used at any public hearing unless:
(a) The patient named in the records has consented in writing to
their use; or
(b) Appropriate procedures are utilized to protect the identity of
the patient from public disclosure.
6. Subsection 5 does not prohibit:
(a) A state licensing board from providing to a provider of
health care or owner or operator of an ambulance against whom a
complaint or written allegation has been filed, or to his attorney,
information on the identity of a patient whose records may be used
in a public hearing relating to the complaint or allegation, but the
provider of health care or owner or operator of an ambulance and
his attorney shall keep the information confidential.
(b) The Attorney General from using health care records in the
course of a civil or criminal action against the patient or provider of
health care.
7. A provider of health care or owner or operator of an
ambulance, his agents and employees are immune from any civil
action for any disclosures made in accordance with the provisions of
this section or any consequential damages.
8. For the purposes of this section:
(a) “Guardian” means a person who has qualified as the
guardian of a minor pursuant to testamentary or judicial
appointment, but does not include a guardian ad litem.
(b) “Parent” means a natural or adoptive parent whose
parental rights have not been terminated.
(c) “Personal representative” has the meaning ascribed to it in
NRS 132.265.
Sec. 2. NRS 652.190 is hereby amended to read as follows:
652.190 1. A laboratory may examine specimens only at the
request of:
(a) A licensed physician;
(b) Any other person authorized by law to use the findings of
laboratory tests and examinations; or
(c) If the examination can be made with a testing device or kit
which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in
the home and which is available to the public without a prescription,
any person.
2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 441A.150, 442.325
and 652.193, the laboratory may report the results of the
examination only to [the] :
(a) The person requesting the test or procedure ;
(b) A provider of health care who is treating or providing
assistance in the treatment of the patient;
(c) A provider of health care to whom the patient has been
referred; and [to the]
(d) The patient for whom the testing or procedure was
performed.
3. The laboratory report must contain the name of the
laboratory.
[3.] If a specimen is accepted by a laboratory and is referred to
another laboratory, the name and address of the other laboratory
must be clearly shown by the referring laboratory on the report to
the person requesting the test or procedure.
4. Whenever an examination is made pursuant to paragraph (c)
of subsection 1, the laboratory report must contain a provision
which recommends that the results of the examination be reviewed
and interpreted by a physician or other licensed provider of health
care.
Sec. 3. 1. This section and section 2 of this act become
effective upon passage and approval.
2. Section 1 of this act becomes effective on October 1, 2003.
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