093_SB1414

 
                                     LRB093 03379 AMC 09887 b

 1        AN ACT to amend the Hospital Licensing Act.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Hospital  Licensing  Act  is  amended  by
 5    changing Section 6.17 as follows:

 6        (210 ILCS 85/6.17)
 7        Sec.  6.17.   Protection  of  and  confidential access to
 8    medical records and information.
 9        (a) Every hospital licensed under this Act shall  develop
10    a  medical record for each of its patients as required by the
11    Department by rule.
12        (b)  All  information  regarding   a   hospital   patient
13    gathered  by  the hospital's medical staff and its agents and
14    employees shall be the property  and  responsibility  of  the
15    hospital  and must be protected from inappropriate disclosure
16    as provided in this Section.
17        (c)  Every hospital shall preserve its medical records in
18    a format and for a duration established  by  hospital  policy
19    and for not less than 10 years, provided that if the hospital
20    has  been  notified  in  writing  by  an  attorney before the
21    expiration of the 10 year  retention  period  that  there  is
22    litigation  pending  in  court  involving  the  record  of  a
23    particular  patient as possible evidence and that the patient
24    is his client or  is  the  person  who  has  instituted  such
25    litigation against his client, then the hospital shall retain
26    the  record  of that patient until notified in writing by the
27    plaintiff's attorney, with the approval  of  the  defendant's
28    attorney  of  record,  that  the case in court involving such
29    record has been concluded or for a period of  12  years  from
30    the date that the record was produced, whichever occurs first
31    in time.
 
                            -2-      LRB093 03379 AMC 09887 b
 1        (d)  No member of a hospital's medical staff and no agent
 2    or  employee  of  a  hospital  shall  disclose  the nature or
 3    details of services provided to  patients,  except  that  the
 4    information   may   be  disclosed  to  the  patient,  persons
 5    authorized  by  the  patient,  the  party  making   treatment
 6    decisions,  if  the  patient is incapable of making decisions
 7    regarding  the  health  services  provided,   those   parties
 8    directly  involved with providing treatment to the patient or
 9    processing the payment  for  that  treatment,  those  parties
10    responsible  for  peer review, utilization review, or quality
11    assurance, risk  management  or  defense  of  claims  brought
12    against  the  hospital  arising  out  of  the care, and those
13    parties  required  to  be  notified  under  the  Abused   and
14    Neglected   Child   Reporting   Act,  the  Illinois  Sexually
15    Transmissible  Disease  Control  Act,  or   where   otherwise
16    authorized or required by law.
17        (e)   The   hospital's  medical  staff  members  and  the
18    hospital's agents and employees may communicate, at any  time
19    and  in  any  fashion,  with  legal  counsel for the hospital
20    concerning the patient medical record privacy  and  retention
21    requirements  of  this Section and any care or treatment they
22    provided or assisted in providing to any patient  within  the
23    scope of their employment or affiliation with the hospital.
24        (f)  Each  hospital licensed under this Act shall provide
25    its federally designated organ  procurement  agency  and  any
26    tissue bank with which it has an agreement with access to the
27    medical  records  of  deceased  patients  for  the  following
28    purposes:
29             (1)  estimating  the  hospital's  organ  and  tissue
30        donation potential;
31             (2)  identifying   the   educational  needs  of  the
32        hospital with respect to organ and tissue donation; and
33             (3)  identifying the  number  of  organ  and  tissue
34        donations  and  referrals  to  potential organ and tissue
 
                            -3-      LRB093 03379 AMC 09887 b
 1        donors.
 2        (g)  All hospital and  patient  information,  interviews,
 3    reports,  statements,  memoranda,  and other data obtained or
 4    created by  a  tissue  bank  or  federally  designated  organ
 5    procurement  agency from the medical records review described
 6    in subsection (f) shall be privileged, strictly confidential,
 7    and used only for the purposes put forth in subsection (f) of
 8    this Section and shall not  be  admissible  as  evidence  nor
 9    discoverable  in  an  action of any kind in court or before a
10    tribunal, board, agency, or person.
11        (h)  Any person who, in good faith,  acts  in  accordance
12    with  the  terms  of this Section shall not be subject to any
13    type  of  civil  or  criminal  liability  or  discipline  for
14    unprofessional conduct for those actions.
15        (h)(i) Any individual who wilfully or wantonly  discloses
16    hospital  or  medical record information in violation of this
17    Section is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.  As used in  this
18    subsection,  "wilfully  or wantonly" means a course of action
19    that shows an actual or deliberate intention to cause harm or
20    that, if not intentional, shows an utter indifference  to  or
21    conscious  disregard  for  the  safety  of  others  or  their
22    property.
23    (Source: P.A. 91-526, eff. 1-1-00.)

24        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
25    becoming law.