HB 7125

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to medical records; amending s. 456.057,
3	F.S.; providing definitions; requiring a health care
4	practitioner's employer who is a records owner and a
5	records custodian to comply with specified requirements
6	for confidentiality and disclosure; amending s. 456.42,
7	F.S.; providing requirements for prescriptions of
8	medicinal drugs by health care practitioners that are
9	electronically generated and transmitted; creating s.
10	456.43, F.S.; regulating electronic prescribing for
11	medicinal drugs; providing restrictions for electronic
12	prescribing software; providing definitions; authorizing
13	electronic prescribing software to show information
14	regarding a payor's formulary under certain circumstances;
15	amending s. 465.025, F.S.; specifying requirements for a
16	prescriber to prevent generic substitution for brand name
17	drugs when a prescription is electronically transmitted
18	and generated; amending s. 381.028, F.S.; correcting a
19	cross-reference; providing an effective date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1.  Present subsections (3) through (19) of section
24	456.057, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (5)
25	through (21), respectively, and new subsections (3) and (4) are
26	added to that section to read:
27	456.057  Ownership and control of patient records; report
28	or copies of records to be furnished.--
29	(3)  As used in this section, the term "records custodian"
30	means any person or entity that:
31	(a)  Maintains documents that are authorized in subsection
32	(2); or
33	(b)  Obtains medical records from a records owner.
34	(4)  Any health care practitioner's employer who is a
35	records owner and any records custodian shall maintain records
36	or documents as provided under the confidentiality and
37	disclosure requirements of this section.
38	Section 2.  Section 456.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to
39	read:
40	456.42  Written prescriptions for medicinal drugs.--A
41	written prescription for a medicinal drug issued by a health
42	care practitioner licensed by law to prescribe such drug must be
43	legibly printed or typed so as to be capable of being understood
44	by the pharmacist filling the prescription; must contain the
45	name of the prescribing practitioner, the name and strength of
46	the drug prescribed, the quantity of the drug prescribed in both
47	textual and numerical formats, and the directions for use of the
48	drug; must be dated with the month written out in textual
49	letters; and must be signed by the prescribing practitioner on
50	the day when issued. However, a prescription that is
51	electronically generated and transmitted must contain the name
52	of the prescribing practitioner, the name and strength of the
53	drug prescribed, the quantity of the drug prescribed in
54	numerical format, and the directions for use of the drug and
55	must be dated and signed by the prescribing practitioner only on
56	the day issued, which signature may be in an electronic format
57	as defined by s. 668.003(4).
58	Section 3.  Section 456.43, Florida Statutes, is created to
59	read:
60	456.43  Electronic prescribing for medicinal drugs.--
61	(1)  Electronic prescribing shall not interfere with a
62	patient's freedom to choose a pharmacy.
63	(2)  Electronic prescribing software shall not use any
64	means or permit any other person to use any means, including,
65	but not limited to, advertising, instant messaging, and pop-up
66	ads, to influence or attempt to influence, through economic
67	incentives or otherwise, the prescribing decision of a physician
68	at the point of care. Such means shall not be triggered or in
69	specific response to the input, selection, or act of a physician
70	or his or her agent in prescribing a certain pharmaceutical or
71	directing a patient to a certain pharmacy.
72	(a)  The term "prescribing decision" means a physician's
73	decision to prescribe a certain pharmaceutical or direct a
74	patient to a certain pharmacy.
75	(b)  The term "point of care" means the time that a
76	physician or his or her agent is in the act of prescribing a
77	certain pharmaceutical or directing a patient to a certain
78	pharmacy.
79	(3)  Electronic prescribing software may show information
80	regarding a payor's formulary as long as nothing is designed to
81	preclude or make more difficult the act of a physician or
82	patient selecting any particular pharmacy or pharmaceutical.
83	Section 4.  Subsection (2) of section 465.025, Florida
84	Statutes, is amended to read:
85	465.025  Substitution of drugs.--
86	(2)  A pharmacist who receives a prescription for a brand
87	name drug shall, unless requested otherwise by the purchaser,
88	substitute a less expensive, generically equivalent drug product
89	that is:
90	(a)  Distributed by a business entity doing business, and
91	subject to suit and service of legal process, in the United
92	States; and
93	(b)  Listed in the formulary of generic and brand name drug
94	products as provided in subsection (5) for the brand name drug
95	prescribed,
96
97	unless the prescriber writes the words "MEDICALLY NECESSARY," in
98	her or his own handwriting, on the face of a written
99	prescription; or unless, in the case of an oral prescription,
100	the prescriber expressly indicates to the pharmacist that the
101	brand name drug prescribed is medically necessary; or unless, in
102	the case of a prescription that is electronically generated and
103	transmitted, the prescriber makes an overt act when transmitting
104	the prescription to indicate that the brand name drug prescribed
105	is medically necessary. When done in conjunction with the
106	electronic transmission of the prescription, the prescriber's
107	overt act indicates to the pharmacist that the brand name drug
108	prescribed is medically necessary.
109	Section 5.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (7) of section
110	381.028, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
111	381.028  Adverse medical incidents.--
112	(7)  PRODUCTION OF RECORDS.--
113	(c)1.  Fees charged by a health care facility for copies of
114	records requested by a patient under s. 25, Art. X of the State
115	Constitution may not exceed the reasonable and actual cost of
116	complying with the request, including a reasonable charge for
117	the staff time necessary to search for records and prevent the
118	disclosure of the identity of any patient involved in the
119	adverse medical incident through redaction or other means as
120	required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
121	Act of 1996 or its implementing regulations. The health care
122	facility may require payment, in full or in part, before acting
123	on the records request.
124	2.  Fees charged by a health care provider for copies of
125	records requested by a patient under s. 25, Art. X of the State
126	Constitution may not exceed the amount established under s.
127	456.057(18)(16), which may include a reasonable charge for the
128	staff time necessary to prevent the disclosure of the identity
129	of any patient involved in the adverse medical incident through
130	redaction or other means as required by the Health Insurance
131	Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or its implementing
132	regulations. The health care provider may require payment, in
133	full or in part, before acting on the records request.
134	Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.