| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public records; creating s. 893.056, |
| 3 | F.S.; exempting from public records requirements |
| 4 | information and records reported to the Department of |
| 5 | Health under the electronic monitoring system for |
| 6 | prescription of controlled substances listed in Schedules |
| 7 | II-IV; authorizing certain persons and entities access to |
| 8 | patient-identifying information; providing guidelines for |
| 9 | the use of such information and penalties for violations; |
| 10 | providing for future legislative review and repeal; |
| 11 | providing a finding of public necessity; providing a |
| 12 | contingent effective date. |
| 13 |
|
| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
|
| 16 | Section 1. Section 893.056, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 17 | to read: |
| 18 | 893.056 Public records exemption for the electronic- |
| 19 | monitoring system for prescription of controlled substances |
| 20 | listed in Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV.-- |
| 21 | (1) Identifying information, including, but not limited |
| 22 | to, the name, address, phone number, insurance plan number, |
| 23 | social security number or government-issued identification |
| 24 | number, provider number, Drug Enforcement Administration number, |
| 25 | or any other unique identifying number of a patient, patient's |
| 26 | agent, health care practitioner, pharmacist, pharmacist's agent, |
| 27 | or pharmacy which is contained in records held by the Department |
| 28 | of Health or any other agency as defined in s. 119.011(2) under |
| 29 | s. 893.055, the electronic-monitoring system for prescription of |
| 30 | controlled substances, is confidential and exempt from s. |
| 31 | 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. |
| 32 | (2) The Department of Health shall disclose such |
| 33 | confidential and exempt information to: |
| 34 | (a) The Agency for Health Care Administration when it has |
| 35 | initiated a review of specific identifiers of Medicaid fraud and |
| 36 | abuse. |
| 37 | (b) A criminal justice agency, as defined in s. 119.011, |
| 38 | which enforces the laws of this state or the United States |
| 39 | relating to controlled substances and which has initiated an |
| 40 | active investigation involving a specific violation of law. |
| 41 | (c) A practitioner as defined in s. 893.02, or an employee |
| 42 | of the practitioner who is acting on behalf of and at the |
| 43 | direction of the practitioner, who requests such information and |
| 44 | certifies that the information is necessary to provide medical |
| 45 | treatment to a current patient in accordance with s. 893.05. |
| 46 | (d) A pharmacist as defined in s. 465.003, or a pharmacy |
| 47 | intern or pharmacy technician who is acting on behalf of and at |
| 48 | the direction of the pharmacist, who requests such information |
| 49 | and certifies that the requested information will be used to |
| 50 | dispense controlled substances to a current patient in |
| 51 | accordance with s. 893.04. |
| 52 | (e) A patient who is identified in the record upon a |
| 53 | written request for the purpose of verifying that information. |
| 54 | (3) Any agency that obtains such confidential and exempt |
| 55 | information pursuant to this section must maintain the |
| 56 | confidential and exempt status of that information; however, the |
| 57 | Agency for Health Care Administration or a criminal justice |
| 58 | agency that has lawful access to such information may disclose |
| 59 | confidential and exempt information received from the Department |
| 60 | of Health to a criminal justice agency as part of an active |
| 61 | investigation of a specific violation of law. |
| 62 | (4) Any person who willfully and knowingly violates this |
| 63 | section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as |
| 64 | provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. |
| 65 | (5) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset |
| 66 | Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall stand |
| 67 | repealed on October 2, 2012, unless reviewed and saved from |
| 68 | repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 69 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 70 | necessity that personal identifying information of a patient, a |
| 71 | practitioner as defined in s. 893.02, Florida Statutes, or a |
| 72 | pharmacist as defined in s. 465.003, Florida Statutes, contained |
| 73 | in records that are reported to the Department of Health under |
| 74 | s. 893.055, Florida Statutes, the electronic-monitoring system |
| 75 | for prescription of controlled substances, be made confidential |
| 76 | and exempt from disclosure. Information concerning the |
| 77 | prescriptions that a patient has been prescribed is a private, |
| 78 | personal matter between the patient, the practitioner, and the |
| 79 | pharmacist. Nevertheless, reporting of prescriptions on a timely |
| 80 | and accurate basis by practitioners and pharmacists will ensure |
| 81 | the ability of the state to review and provide oversight of |
| 82 | prescribing and dispensing practices. Further, the reporting of |
| 83 | this information will facilitate investigations and prosecutions |
| 84 | of violations of state drug laws by patients, practitioners, or |
| 85 | pharmacists, thereby increasing compliance with those laws. |
| 86 | However, if in the process the information that would identify a |
| 87 | patient is not made confidential and exempt from disclosure, any |
| 88 | person could inspect and copy the record and be aware of the |
| 89 | patient's prescriptions. The availability of such information to |
| 90 | the public would result in the invasion of the patient's |
| 91 | privacy. If the identity of the patient could be correlated with |
| 92 | his or her prescriptions, it would be possible for the public to |
| 93 | become aware of the diseases or other medical concerns for which |
| 94 | a patient is being treated by his or her physician. This |
| 95 | knowledge could be used to embarrass or to humiliate a patient |
| 96 | or to discriminate against him or her. Requiring the reporting |
| 97 | of prescribing information, while protecting a patient's |
| 98 | personal identifying information, will facilitate efforts to |
| 99 | maintain compliance with the state's drug laws and will |
| 100 | facilitate the sharing of information between health care |
| 101 | practitioners and pharmacists, while maintaining and ensuring |
| 102 | patient privacy. Additionally, exempting from disclosure the |
| 103 | personal identifying information of practitioners will ensure |
| 104 | that an individual will not be able to "doctor-shop," that is to |
| 105 | determine which practitioners prescribe the highest amount of a |
| 106 | particular type of drug and to seek those practitioners out in |
| 107 | order to increase the likelihood of obtaining a particular |
| 108 | prescribed substance. Further, protecting personal identifying |
| 109 | information of pharmacists ensures that an individual will not |
| 110 | be able to identify which pharmacists dispense the largest |
| 111 | amount of a particular substance and target that pharmacy for |
| 112 | robbery or burglary. Thus, the Legislature finds that personal |
| 113 | identifying information of a patient, a practitioner as defined |
| 114 | in s. 893.02, Florida Statutes, or a pharmacist as defined in s. |
| 115 | 465.003, Florida Statutes, contained in records reported under |
| 116 | s. 893.055, Florida Statutes, must be confidential and exempt |
| 117 | from disclosure. |
| 118 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007, if |
| 119 | House Bill 893, or similar legislation establishing an |
| 120 | electronic system to monitor the prescribing of controlled |
| 121 | substances, is adopted in the same legislative session or an |
| 122 | extension thereof and becomes law. |