Florida Senate - 2016                       CS for CS for SB 964
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; and Health Policy; and
       Senator Grimsley
       
       594-04396-16                                           2016964c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the prescription drug monitoring
    3         program; amending s. 893.055, F.S.; providing that
    4         certain acts of dispensing controlled substances in
    5         specified facilities are not required to be reported
    6         to the prescription drug monitoring program;
    7         authorizing the designee of a pharmacy, prescriber, or
    8         dispenser to have access to a patient’s record in the
    9         prescription drug monitoring program’s database for a
   10         specified purpose; authorizing an impaired
   11         practitioner consultant to access an impaired
   12         practitioner program participant’s or referral’s
   13         record in the prescription drug monitoring program’s
   14         database; amending s. 893.0551, F.S.; authorizing the
   15         designee of a health care practitioner, pharmacist,
   16         pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser or an impaired
   17         practitioner consultant to receive certain information
   18         from the prescription drug monitoring program;
   19         providing an effective date.
   20          
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Paragraph (g) is added to subsection (5) of
   24  section 893.055, Florida Statutes, and paragraphs (b) and (c) of
   25  subsection (7) and subsection (12) of that section are amended,
   26  to read:
   27         893.055 Prescription drug monitoring program.—
   28         (5) When the following acts of dispensing or administering
   29  occur, the following are exempt from reporting under this
   30  section for that specific act of dispensing or administration:
   31         (g) A rehabilitative hospital, assisted living facility, or
   32  nursing home dispensing a certain dosage of a controlled
   33  substance, as needed, to a patient as ordered by the patient’s
   34  treating physician.
   35         (7)
   36         (b) A pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser, or the designee
   37  of a pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser, shall have access to
   38  information in the prescription drug monitoring program’s
   39  database which relates to a patient of that pharmacy,
   40  prescriber, or dispenser in a manner established by the
   41  department as needed for the purpose of reviewing the patient’s
   42  controlled substance prescription history. Other access to the
   43  program’s database shall be limited to the program’s manager and
   44  to the designated program and support staff, who may act only at
   45  the direction of the program manager or, in the absence of the
   46  program manager, as authorized. Access by the program manager or
   47  such designated staff is for prescription drug program
   48  management only or for management of the program’s database and
   49  its system in support of the requirements of this section and in
   50  furtherance of the prescription drug monitoring program.
   51  Confidential and exempt information in the database shall be
   52  released only as provided in paragraph (c) and s. 893.0551. The
   53  program manager, designated program and support staff who act at
   54  the direction of or in the absence of the program manager, and
   55  any individual who has similar access regarding the management
   56  of the database from the prescription drug monitoring program
   57  shall submit fingerprints to the department for background
   58  screening. The department shall follow the procedure established
   59  by the Department of Law Enforcement to request a statewide
   60  criminal history record check and to request that the Department
   61  of Law Enforcement forward the fingerprints to the Federal
   62  Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record
   63  check.
   64         (c) The following entities are shall not be allowed direct
   65  access to information in the prescription drug monitoring
   66  program database but may request from the program manager and,
   67  when authorized by the program manager, the program manager’s
   68  program and support staff, information that is confidential and
   69  exempt under s. 893.0551. Before Prior to release, a the request
   70  by the following entities shall be verified as authentic and
   71  authorized with the requesting organization by the program
   72  manager, the program manager’s program and support staff, or as
   73  determined in rules by the department as being authentic and as
   74  having been authorized by the requesting entity:
   75         1. The department or its relevant health care regulatory
   76  boards responsible for the licensure, regulation, or discipline
   77  of practitioners, pharmacists, or other persons who are
   78  authorized to prescribe, administer, or dispense controlled
   79  substances and who are involved in a specific controlled
   80  substance investigation involving a designated person for one or
   81  more prescribed controlled substances.
   82         2. The Attorney General for Medicaid fraud cases involving
   83  prescribed controlled substances.
   84         3. A law enforcement agency during active investigations of
   85  regarding potential criminal activity, fraud, or theft regarding
   86  prescribed controlled substances.
   87         4. A patient or the legal guardian or designated health
   88  care surrogate of an incapacitated patient as described in s.
   89  893.0551 who, for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the
   90  database information, submits a written and notarized request
   91  that includes the patient’s full name, address, and date of
   92  birth, and includes the same information if the legal guardian
   93  or health care surrogate submits the request. The request shall
   94  be validated by the department to verify the identity of the
   95  patient and the legal guardian or health care surrogate, if the
   96  patient’s legal guardian or health care surrogate is the
   97  requestor. Such verification is also required for any request to
   98  change a patient’s prescription history or other information
   99  related to his or her information in the electronic database.
  100         5.An impaired practitioner consultant who is retained by
  101  the department under s. 456.076 for the purpose of reviewing the
  102  database information of an impaired practitioner program
  103  participant or a referral who has agreed to be evaluated or
  104  monitored through the program and who has separately agreed in
  105  writing to the consultant’s access to and review of such
  106  information.
  107  
  108  Information in the database for the electronic prescription drug
  109  monitoring system is not discoverable or admissible in any civil
  110  or administrative action, except in an investigation and
  111  disciplinary proceeding by the department or the appropriate
  112  regulatory board.
  113         (12) A prescriber or dispenser, or his or her designee, may
  114  have access to the information under this section which relates
  115  to a patient of that prescriber or dispenser as needed for the
  116  purpose of reviewing the patient’s controlled drug prescription
  117  history. A prescriber or dispenser acting in good faith is
  118  immune from any civil, criminal, or administrative liability
  119  that might otherwise be incurred or imposed for receiving or
  120  using information from the prescription drug monitoring program.
  121  This subsection does not create a private cause of action, and a
  122  person may not recover damages against a prescriber or dispenser
  123  authorized to access information under this subsection for
  124  accessing or failing to access such information.
  125         Section 2. Paragraphs (d), (e), and (g) of subsection (3)
  126  of section 893.0551, Florida Statutes, are amended, paragraph
  127  (h) is added to subsection (3) of that section, and subsections
  128  (6) and (7) of that section are republished, to read:
  129         893.0551 Public records exemption for the prescription drug
  130  monitoring program.—
  131         (3) The department shall disclose such confidential and
  132  exempt information to the following persons or entities upon
  133  request and after using a verification process to ensure the
  134  legitimacy of the request as provided in s. 893.055:
  135         (d) A health care practitioner, or his or her designee, who
  136  certifies that the information is necessary to provide medical
  137  treatment to a current patient in accordance with ss. 893.05 and
  138  893.055.
  139         (e) A pharmacist, or his or her designee, who certifies
  140  that the requested information will be used to dispense
  141  controlled substances to a current patient in accordance with
  142  ss. 893.04 and 893.055.
  143         (g) The patient’s pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser, or
  144  the designee of the pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser, who
  145  certifies that the information is necessary to provide medical
  146  treatment to his or her current patient in accordance with s.
  147  893.055.
  148         (h)An impaired practitioner consultant who has been
  149  authorized in writing by a participant in, or by a referral to,
  150  the impaired practitioner program to access and review
  151  information as provided in s. 893.055(7)(c)5.
  152         (6) An agency or person who obtains any confidential and
  153  exempt information pursuant to this section must maintain the
  154  confidential and exempt status of that information and may not
  155  disclose such information unless authorized by law. Information
  156  shared with a state attorney pursuant to paragraph (3)(a) or
  157  paragraph (3)(c) may be released only in response to a discovery
  158  demand if such information is directly related to the criminal
  159  case for which the information was requested. Unrelated
  160  information may be released only upon an order of a court of
  161  competent jurisdiction.
  162         (7) A person who willfully and knowingly violates this
  163  section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as
  164  provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
  165         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.