§ 25-26-24-19 — Confidentiality; disclosure; release of information; applicants; statistical reports; data base; immunity

(a) Information received by the INSPECT
program under section 17 of this chapter is confidential.
(b) The board shall carry out a program to protect the confidentiality
of the information described in subsection (a). The board may disclose
the information to another person only under subsection (c), (d), or (g).
(c) The board may disclose confidential information described in
subsection (a) to any person who is authorized to engage in receiving,
processing, or storing the information.
(d) Except as provided in subsections (e) and (f), the board may
release confidential information described in subsection (a) to the
following persons:
(1) A member of the board or another governing body that
licenses practitioners and is engaged in an investigation, an
adjudication, or a prosecution of a violation under any state or
federal law that involves ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or a
controlled substance.
(2) An investigator for the consumer protection division of the
office of the attorney general, a prosecuting attorney, the attorney
general, a deputy attorney general, or an investigator from the
office of the attorney general, who is engaged in:
(A) an investigation;
(B) an adjudication; or
(C) a prosecution;
of a violation under any state or federal law that involves
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or a controlled substance.
(3) A law enforcement officer who is an employee of:
(A) a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency; or
(B) an entity that regulates ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or
controlled substances or enforces ephedrine, pseudoephedrine,
or controlled substances rules or laws in another state;
that is certified to receive ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or
controlled substance prescription drug information from the
INSPECT program.
(4) A practitioner or practitioner's agent certified to receive
information from the INSPECT program.
(5) An ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or controlled substance
monitoring program in another state with which Indiana has
established an interoperability agreement.
(6) The state toxicologist.
(7) A certified representative of the Medicaid retrospective and
prospective drug utilization review program.
(8) A substance abuse assistance program for a licensed health
care provider who:
(A) has prescriptive authority under this title; and
(B) is participating in the assistance program.
(9) An individual who holds a valid temporary medical permit
issued under IC 25-22.5-5-4 or a noneducational commission for
foreign medical graduates certified graduate permit issued under
IC 25-22.5-5-4.6.
(10) A county coroner conducting a medical investigation of the
cause of death.
(11) The management performance hub established by IC 4-3-26-8.
(12) The state epidemiologist under the Indiana department of
health.
(13) A supervisor of the department of child services who is
engaged in:
(A) an investigation; or
(B) an adjudication;
of child abuse or neglect.
(e) Information provided to a person under:
(1) subsection (d)(3) is limited to information:
(A) concerning an individual or proceeding involving the
unlawful diversion or misuse of a schedule II, III, IV, or V
controlled substance; and
(B) that will assist in an investigation or proceeding;
(2) subsection (d)(4) may be released only for the purpose of:
(A) providing medical or pharmaceutical treatment; or
(B) evaluating the need for providing medical or
pharmaceutical treatment to a patient; and
(3) subsection (d)(11) must be released to the extent disclosure of
the information is not prohibited by applicable federal law.
(f) Before the board releases confidential information under
subsection (d), the applicant must be approved by the INSPECT
program in a manner prescribed by the board.
(g) The board may release to:
(1) a member of the board or another governing body that licenses
practitioners;
(2) an investigator for the consumer protection division of the
office of the attorney general, a prosecuting attorney, the attorney
general, a deputy attorney general, or an investigator from the
office of the attorney general; or
(3) a law enforcement officer who is:
(A) authorized by the state police department to receive
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or controlled substance
prescription drug information; and
(B) approved by the board to receive the type of information
released;
confidential information generated from computer records that
identifies practitioners who are prescribing or dispensing large
quantities of a controlled substance.
(h) The information described in subsection (g) may not be released
until it has been reviewed by:
(1) a member of the board who is licensed in the same profession
as the prescribing or dispensing practitioner identified by the data;
or
(2) the board's designee;
and until that member or the designee has certified that further
investigation is warranted. However, failure to comply with this
subsection does not invalidate the use of any evidence that is otherwise
admissible in a proceeding described in subsection (i).
(i) An investigator or a law enforcement officer receiving
confidential information under subsection (c), (d), or (g) may disclose
the information to a law enforcement officer or an attorney for the
office of the attorney general for use as evidence in the following:
(1) A proceeding under IC 16-42-20.
(2) A proceeding under any state or federal law.
(3) A criminal proceeding or a proceeding in juvenile court.
(j) The board may compile statistical reports from the information
described in subsection (a). The reports must not include information
that identifies any practitioner, ultimate user, or other person
administering ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or a controlled substance.
Statistical reports compiled under this subsection are public records.
(k) Except as provided in subsections (q) and (r), and in addition to
any requirements provided in IC 25-22.5-13, the following practitioners
shall obtain information about a patient from the data base either
directly or through the patient's integrated health record before
prescribing an opioid or benzodiazepine to the patient:
(1) A practitioner who has had the information from the data base
integrated into the patient's electronic health records.
(2) A practitioner who provides services to the patient in:
(A) the emergency department of a hospital licensed under IC 16-21; or
(B) a pain management clinic.
(3) Beginning January 1, 2020, a practitioner who provides
services to the patient in a hospital licensed under IC 16-21.
(4) Beginning January 1, 2021, all practitioners.
However, a practitioner is not required to obtain information about a
patient who is subject to a pain management contract from the data
base more than once every ninety (90) days.
(l) A practitioner who checks the INSPECT program either directly
through the data base or through the patient's integrated health record
for the available data on a patient is immune from civil liability for an
injury, death, or loss to a person solely due to a practitioner:
(1) seeking information from the INSPECT program; and
(2) in good faith using the information for the treatment of the
patient.
The civil immunity described in this subsection does not extend to a
practitioner if the practitioner receives information directly from the
INSPECT program or through the patient's integrated health record and
then negligently misuses this information. This subsection does not
apply to an act or omission that is a result of gross negligence or
intentional misconduct.
(m) The board may review the records of the INSPECT program. If
the board determines that a violation of the law may have occurred, the
board shall notify the appropriate law enforcement agency or the
relevant government body responsible for the licensure, regulation, or
discipline of practitioners authorized by law to prescribe controlled
substances.
(n) A practitioner who in good faith discloses information based on
a report from the INSPECT program either directly through the data
base or through the patient's integrated health record to a law
enforcement agency is immune from criminal or civil liability. A
practitioner that discloses information to a law enforcement agency
under this subsection is presumed to have acted in good faith.
(o) A practitioner's agent may act as a delegate and check INSPECT
program reports on behalf of the practitioner.
(p) A patient may access a report from the INSPECT program that
has been included in the patient's medical file by a practitioner.
(q) A practitioner is not required under subsection (k) to obtain
information about a patient from the data base or through the patient's
integrated health record before prescribing an opioid or benzodiazepine
if any of the following apply:
(1) The practitioner has obtained a waiver from the board because
the practitioner does not have access to the Internet at the
practitioner's place of business.
(2) The patient is:
(A) recovering; or
(B) in the process of completing a prescription that was
prescribed by another practitioner;
while still being treated as an inpatient or in observation status.
(3) The data base described in section 18 of this chapter is
suspended or is not operational if the practitioner documents in
writing or electronically the date and time in the patient's medical
record that the practitioner, dispenser, or delegate attempted to
use the data base.
(r) A practitioner is not required under subsection (k) to obtain
information about a patient from the data base or through the patient's
integrated health record before prescribing an opioid or benzodiazepine
if the patient is enrolled in a hospice program (as defined in IC 16-25-1.1-4).

Legislative History

As added by P.L.51-2019, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.56-2023, SEC.241; P.L.233-2023, SEC.5; P.L.81-2025, SEC.1.