| 1 | The Committee on Health Care recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to public records; creating s. 893.056, |
| 7 | F.S.; exempting from public records requirements |
| 8 | information and records reported to the Department of |
| 9 | Health under the electronic monitoring system for |
| 10 | prescription of controlled substances listed in Schedules |
| 11 | II-IV; authorizing certain persons and entities access to |
| 12 | patient-identifying and practitioner-identifying |
| 13 | information; providing guidelines for the use of such |
| 14 | information and penalties for violations; providing for |
| 15 | future legislative review and repeal; providing a finding |
| 16 | of public necessity; providing a contingent effective |
| 17 | date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Section 893.056, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 22 | to read: |
| 23 | 893.056 Public records exemption for the electronic |
| 24 | monitoring system for prescription of controlled substances |
| 25 | listed in Schedules II, III, and IV.-- |
| 26 | (1) Personal identifying information of a patient, a |
| 27 | practitioner as defined in s. 893.02, or a pharmacist as defined |
| 28 | in s. 465.003, contained in records held by the Department of |
| 29 | Health under s. 893.055, the electronic monitoring system for |
| 30 | prescription of controlled substances, is confidential and |
| 31 | exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State |
| 32 | Constitution. |
| 33 | (2) The Department of Health shall disclose such |
| 34 | confidential and exempt information to: |
| 35 | (a) The Agency for Health Care Administration when it has |
| 36 | initiated a review of specific identifiers of Medicaid fraud and |
| 37 | abuse. |
| 38 | (b) A criminal justice agency as defined in s. 119.011, |
| 39 | which enforces the laws of this state or the United States |
| 40 | relating to controlled substances and which has initiated an |
| 41 | active investigation involving a specific violation of law. |
| 42 | (c) A practitioner as defined in s. 893.02, and an |
| 43 | employee of the practitioner who is acting on behalf of and at |
| 44 | the direction of the practitioner, who requests such information |
| 45 | and certifies that the information is necessary to provide |
| 46 | medical treatment to a current patient in accordance with s. |
| 47 | 893.05, subject to that patient's written consent. |
| 48 | (d) A pharmacist as defined in s. 465.003, or a pharmacy |
| 49 | intern or pharmacy technician who is acting on behalf of and at |
| 50 | the direction of the pharmacist, who requests such information |
| 51 | and certifies that the requested information is to be used to |
| 52 | dispense controlled substances to a current patient in |
| 53 | accordance with s. 893.04. |
| 54 | (e) The patient who is identified in the record, upon a |
| 55 | written request, for the purpose of verifying that information. |
| 56 | (3) Any agency that obtains such confidential and exempt |
| 57 | information pursuant to this section must maintain the |
| 58 | confidential and exempt status of that information; however, the |
| 59 | Agency for Health Care Administration or a criminal justice |
| 60 | agency with lawful access to such information may disclose |
| 61 | confidential and exempt information received from the Department |
| 62 | of Health to a criminal justice agency as part of an active |
| 63 | investigation of a specific violation of law. |
| 64 | (4) Any person who willfully and knowingly violates this |
| 65 | section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as |
| 66 | provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. |
| 67 | (5) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset |
| 68 | Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall stand |
| 69 | repealed on October 2, 2010, unless reviewed and saved from |
| 70 | repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 71 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 72 | necessity that personal identifying information of a patient, a |
| 73 | practitioner as defined in s. 893.02, Florida Statutes, or a |
| 74 | pharmacist as defined in s. 465.003, Florida Statutes, contained |
| 75 | in records that are reported to the Department of Health under |
| 76 | s. 893.055, Florida Statutes, the electronic monitoring system |
| 77 | for prescription of controlled substances, be made confidential |
| 78 | and exempt. Information about the prescriptions a patient has |
| 79 | been prescribed is a private, personal matter between the |
| 80 | patient, the practitioner, and the pharmacist. Nevertheless, |
| 81 | reporting of prescriptions on a timely and accurate basis by |
| 82 | practitioners and pharmacists will ensure the ability of the |
| 83 | state to review and provide oversight of prescribing and |
| 84 | dispensing practices. Further, reporting of this information |
| 85 | will facilitate investigations and prosecutions of violations of |
| 86 | state drug laws by patients, practitioners, or pharmacists, |
| 87 | thereby increasing compliance with those laws. If in the |
| 88 | process, however, the information that would identify a patient |
| 89 | is not made confidential and exempt, any person could inspect |
| 90 | and copy the record and be aware of the prescriptions that a |
| 91 | patient has been prescribed. The availability of such |
| 92 | information to the public would result in the invasion of the |
| 93 | patient's privacy. If the identity of the patient could be |
| 94 | correlated with his or her prescriptions, it would be possible |
| 95 | for the public to become aware of the diseases or other medical |
| 96 | concerns that a patient is being treated for by his or her |
| 97 | physician. This knowledge could be used to embarrass or |
| 98 | humiliate a patient or to discriminate against him or her. |
| 99 | Requiring the reporting of prescribing information, while |
| 100 | protecting a patient's personal identifying information, will |
| 101 | facilitate efforts to maintain compliance with the state's drug |
| 102 | laws and will facilitate the sharing of information between |
| 103 | health care practitioners and pharmacists, while maintaining and |
| 104 | ensuring patient privacy. Additionally, exempting personal |
| 105 | identifying information of doctors and pharmacists will ensure |
| 106 | that an individual will not be able to "doctor-shop," that is to |
| 107 | determine which doctors prescribe the highest amount of a |
| 108 | particular type of drug and to seek those doctors out in order |
| 109 | to increase the likelihood of obtaining a particular prescribed |
| 110 | substance. Further, protecting personal identifying information |
| 111 | of pharmacists ensures that an individual will not be able to |
| 112 | identify which pharmacists dispense the largest amount of a |
| 113 | particular substance and target that pharmacy for robbery or |
| 114 | burglary. Thus, the Legislature finds that personal identifying |
| 115 | information of a patient, a practitioner as defined in s. |
| 116 | 893.02, Florida Statutes, or a pharmacist as defined in s. |
| 117 | 465.003, Florida Statutes, contained in records reported under |
| 118 | s. 893.055, Florida Statutes, must be confidential and exempt. |
| 119 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005, if |
| 120 | House Bill 397 or similar legislation establishing an electronic |
| 121 | system to monitor the prescribing of controlled substances is |
| 122 | adopted in the same legislative session or an extension thereof |
| 123 | and becomes law. |