§ 12-215-126 — Confidentiality - exceptions

(1) A licensee shall not disclose
confidential communications made between the licensee and a patient in the
course of the licensee's professional employment unless the patient gives his or her
consent prior to the disclosure. An employee or associate of a licensee shall not
disclose any knowledge of confidential communications acquired in his or her
capacity as an employee or associate, unless a patient gives his or her consent prior
to the disclosure.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply when:

(a) A patient or an heir, executor, or administrator of a patient files a
complaint or suit against a licensee with respect to any cause of action arising out
of or connected with:

(I) The care or treatment of the patient by the licensee; or

(II) The consultation by the licensee with another health-care practitioner
who provided care or treatment to the patient;

(b) A review of the services of a licensee is conducted by:

(I) The board, or a person or group authorized by the board;

(II) The governing board of a hospital where the licensee practices, which
hospital is licensed pursuant to part 1 of article 3 of title 25, or the medical staff of
the hospital if the staff operates pursuant to written bylaws approved by the
governing board of the hospital; or

(III) A professional review committee established pursuant to section 12-215-119, if the licensee has signed a release authorizing the review.

(3) The records and information produced and used in a review described in
subsection (2)(b) of this section shall not become public records solely because of
the use of the records and information in the review, and the identity of a patient
whose records are reviewed pursuant to subsection (2)(b) of this section shall not
be disclosed to any person not directly involved in the review process. The board
shall adopt procedures to ensure that the identity of patients remains confidential
during the review process.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit any disclosure
required by law.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1078, � 1, effective October 1.