La. Admin. Code tit. 48 § V-8509

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section V-8509 - Confidentiality

A.R.S. 40:1105.6 and 1105.8 of Acts 1995, No. 1197, strengthen and enforce previous legislative provisions to ensure the confidentiality of patients, health care providers, and reporting facilities. These laws protect licensed health care providers and facilities that participate in the cancer registration program from liability. They also specify the confidentiality requirements of the Louisiana Tumor Registry.

B. Louisiana Tumor Registry policies and procedures comply with the standards of the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Office of Civil Rights has determined that releases of confidential data to state-mandated cancer registries do not require patient consent, since the registries serve as a public health authority.

C. LTR Responsibilities. The president or his or her designee shall take strict measures to ensure that all case-specific information is treated as confidential and privileged. All employees, consultants, and contractors of the Louisiana Tumor Registry and of its regional offices shall sign an "agreement to maintain confidentiality of data" each year, and these agreements shall be kept on file. Any employee who discloses confidential information through gross negligence or willful misconduct is subject to penalty under the law.

D. Protection of Reporting Sources. Health care providers and facilities that disclose cancer morbidity or mortality information to the Louisiana Tumor Registry or its employees in conformity with the law shall not be subject to actions for damages. Their licenses shall not be denied, suspended, or revoked for good-faith release of confidential information to the Louisiana Tumor Registry.

E. Protection of Case-Specific Data Obtained by Special Morbidity and Mortality Studies and Other Research Studies

1.R.S. 40:3.1(A) through (H) and R.S. 40:1105.8(F) state that all confidential data such as records of interviews, questionnaires, reports, statements, notes, and memoranda that are procured or prepared by employees or agents of the Office of Public Health shall be used solely for statistical, scientific and medical research purposes. This applies also to data procured by employees or agents of the Louisiana Tumor Registry or organizations, including public or private college universities acting in collaboration with the Louisiana Tumor Registry in special cancer studies.

2. No case-specific data shall be available for subpoena, nor shall they be disclosed, discoverable, or compelled to be produced in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other proceeding, nor shall such records be deemed admissible as evidence in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other tribunal or court for any reason.

La. Admin. Code tit. 48, § V-8509

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Resources, Office of Preventive and Public Health Services, LR 13:246 (April 1987), amended by the Louisiana State University Medical Center, Office of the Chancellor, LR 24:1298 (July 1998), amended by the LSU Health Sciences Center, Health Care Services Division, Tumor Registry, LR 30:2838 (December 2004), amended by LSU System, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Louisiana Tumor Registry, LR 35:2789 (December 2009), LR 39:3306 (December 2013), Amended by LR 4472 (1/1/2018).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 40:1105.3(7).