§ 53-10-308 — Release of confidential information

(a) Notwithstanding this part to the contrary, the committee or the commissioner: (1) May release confidential information from the database regarding healthcare practitioners, healthcare practitioner delegates, or patients to department personnel engaged in an investigation, adjudication, or prosecution of a violation under any state or federal law that involves a controlled substance; (2) May release confidential information from the database regarding healthcare practitioners, healthcare practitioner delegates, or patients to law enforcement personnel engaged in an investigation, adjudication, or prosecution of a violation under any state or federal law that involves a controlled substance, pursuant to the procedure established in § 53-10-306(a)(11) ; (3) Shall release information from the database when ordered by a court to do so upon the court's finding that disclosure is necessary for the conduct of proceedings before the court regarding the investigation, adjudication, or prosecution of a violation under any state or federal law that involves controlled substances and after an appropriate protective order is issued regarding the information to be released to the court; and (4) (A) Shall release confidential information from the database to the attorney general and reporter upon request for the purpose of reviewing, querying, or otherwise using the data in conjunction with investigating or litigating a civil action involving controlled substances. The data may be disclosed at the attorney general and reporter's discretion to: (i) Designees within the office of the attorney general and reporter who are participating in, assisting with, or supervising any such investigation or litigation; (ii) Other parties to litigation to which the attorney general and reporter is a party in which the data is relevant so long as disclosure of the data is in furtherance of litigation or resolution of litigation, and the data is provided only after an appropriate protective order is issued prohibiting the other parties from using the confidential information for any purpose other than defending or resolving the litigation and prohibiting the sharing of confidential information with litigants in other cases or other parties; (iii) Targets of an investigation conducted by the attorney general and reporter for the purpose of negotiating a settlement regarding conduct to which the data is relevant only after an appropriate protective order is issued or a confidentiality agreement is executed regarding the data; (iv) Designated consultants or experts who agree to maintain the confidentiality of the data and who are retained, in conjunction with an investigation or litigation, by: (a) The attorney general and reporter; (b) Other parties to litigation to which the attorney general and reporter is a party as described in subdivision (a)(4)(A)(ii); or (c) Targets of an investigation conducted by the attorney general and reporter as described in subdivision (a)(4)(A)(iii); and (v) A court for evidentiary or other purposes after an appropriate protective order is issued regarding the confidential information; (B) The attorney general and reporter shall comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( 42 U.S.C. § 1320d et seq.) to the extent that it applies to any such disclosure. (b) Any data authorized to be released under this section or § 53-10-306 , other than deidentified data or data released to personnel of the department, the attorney general and reporter, or a health-related board is limited to reports of drugs prescribed to specific patients or prescribed by specific providers, and nothing in this part creates a right to other data such as provider query audits or registration information, nor does anything in this part require the committee or department to provide analytics or analysis of any data available in the database. (c) Data reported to the database by a Part 2 Program shall not be released under this section or § 53-10-306 unless such release complies with 42 CFR Part 2 and the rules promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to § 53-10-304(e) .

Legislative History

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 825, s 12, eff. 4/14/2022. Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 136, s 9, eff. 4/13/2021. Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 264, Secs.s 1, s 2 eff. 4/30/2019. Acts 2002, ch. 840, § 1; 2012 , ch. 880, §§ 17, 18.