An employer that is an insurance institution, insurance agent, or insurance support organization subject to the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act, Article 6.6 (commencing with Section 791) of Part 2 of Division 1 of the Insurance Code, shall not be deemed to have violated Section 56.20 by disclosing medical information gathered in connection with an insurance transaction in accordance with that act.
Confidentiality of Medical InformationRelationship to Existing Law
Section § 56.27
If an employer is involved with insurance and follows specific privacy protection rules under the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act, it won't get in trouble for sharing medical information related to insurance transactions.
insurance institution insurance agent insurance support organization
Section § 56.28
This law clarifies that the rules in this section do not change any existing laws about a patient's right to see their own medical records. It also maintains the current rules for sharing medical information under certain conditions in the Evidence Code and keeps the same confidentiality protections found there.
Nothing in this part shall be deemed to affect existing laws relating to a patient’s right of access to his or her own medical information, or relating to disclosures made pursuant to Section 1158 of the Evidence Code, or relating to privileges established under the Evidence Code.
patient access medical records current laws
Section § 56.29
This law ensures that a patient’s medical information can't be obtained or shared without proper authorization if the law requires it. Specifically, any sharing of medical details must adhere to certain rules and time limits. Additionally, if other laws impose stricter limits on accessing this information, those restrictions also apply.
(a)CA Civil Law Code § 56.29(a) Nothing in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 shall be construed to permit the acquisition or disclosure of medical information regarding a patient without an authorization, where the authorization is required by this part.
(b)CA Civil Law Code § 56.29(b) The disclosure of medical information regarding a patient which is subject to subdivision (b) of Section 1798.24 shall be made only with an authorization which complies with the provisions of this part. Such disclosure may be made only within the time limits specified in subdivision (b) of Section
1798.24.
(c)CA Civil Law Code § 56.29(c) Where the acquisition or disclosure of medical information regarding a patient is prohibited or limited by any provision of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3, the prohibition or limit shall be applicable in addition to the requirements of this part.
patient medical information authorization requirements medical information disclosure
Section § 56.30
This section outlines situations where specific medical information can be disclosed and used without the restrictions usually applied. This includes records related to mental health, developmental disabilities, public social services, state health services, communicable diseases, licensing, medical surveys, workers' safety, industrial accidents, law enforcement investigations, employment-related injuries, alcohol or drug abuse, patient discharge data, and certain government authorities. These exceptions ensure necessary access to medical information for various administrative, legal, and health-related processes.
The disclosure and use of the following medical information shall not be subject to the limitations of this part:
(a)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(a) (Mental health and developmental disabilities) Information and records obtained in the course of providing services under Division 4 (commencing with Section 4000), Division 4.1 (commencing with Section 4400), Division 4.5 (commencing with
Section 4500), Division 5 (commencing with Section 5000), Division 6 (commencing with Section 6000), or Division 7 (commencing with Section 7100) of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(b) (Public social services) Information and records that are subject to Sections 10850, 14124.1, and 14124.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(c)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(c) (State health services, communicable diseases, developmental disabilities) Information and records maintained pursuant to former Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 200) of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Health and Safety Code and pursuant to the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Act (subdivision (a) of Section 27 of the Health and Safety Code).
(d)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(d) (Licensing and statistics) Information and records maintained pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 1200) and Part 1
(commencing with Section 102100) of Division 102 of the Health and Safety Code; pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1200) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code; and pursuant to Section 8608, 8817, or 8909 of the Family Code.
(e)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(e) (Medical survey, workers’ safety) Information and records acquired and maintained or disclosed pursuant to Sections 1380 and 1382 of the Health and Safety Code and pursuant to Division 5 (commencing with Section 6300) of the Labor Code.
(f)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(f) (Industrial accidents) Information and records acquired, maintained, or disclosed pursuant to Division 1 (commencing with Section 50), Division 4 (commencing with Section 3200), Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 6100), and Division 4.7 (commencing with Section 6200) of the Labor Code.
(g)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(g) (Law enforcement) Information and
records maintained by a health facility which are sought by a law enforcement agency under Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 1543) of Title 12 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.
(h)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(h) (Investigations of employment accident or illness) Information and records sought as part of an investigation of an on-the-job accident or illness pursuant to Division 5 (commencing with Section 6300) of the Labor Code or pursuant to Section 105200 of the Health and Safety Code.
(i)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(i) (Alcohol or drug abuse) Information and records subject to the federal alcohol and drug abuse regulations (Part 2 (commencing with Section 2.1) of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations) or to Section 11845.5 of the Health and Safety Code dealing with alcohol and drug abuse.
(j)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(j) (Patient discharge data) Nothing in this part shall
be construed to limit, expand, or otherwise affect the authority of the California Health Facilities Commission to collect patient discharge information from health facilities.
(k)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(k) Medical information and records disclosed to, and their use by, the Insurance Commissioner, the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care, the Division of Industrial Accidents, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the Department of Insurance, or the Department of Managed Health Care.
(l)CA Civil Law Code § 56.30(l) Medical information and records related to services provided on and after January 1, 2006, disclosed to, and their use by, the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board to the same extent that those records are required to be provided to the board related to services provided on and after July 1, 2009, to comply with Section 403 of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
(Public Law 111-3), applying subdivision (c) of Section 1932 of the federal Social Security Act.
mental health records developmental disabilities public social services records
Section § 56.31
This law states that medical information about whether a person has HIV or has been exposed to it can only be shared with the patient's permission. An exception to this rule is if the person is a worker who got HIV from a work-related incident and is making a claim about it.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in subdivision (f) of Section 56.30 shall permit the disclosure or use of medical information regarding whether a patient is infected with or exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus without the prior authorization from the patient unless the patient is an injured worker claiming to be infected with or exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus through an exposure incident arising out of and in the course of employment.
medical information disclosure HIV exposure patient authorization
