a.) Disclosure
A patient must give written consent for all disclosures30 of covered information that would identify the patient as a substance abuser (directly, by reference to other publicly available information, or through verification of such identification by another person), except in limited circumstances.31 This requirement also applies to any entity that receives patient records directly from a program, if the receiving entity is properly notified of the restriction on re-disclosure.32 The following entities are also subject to this requirement, whether or not they are notified of the restrictions on re-disclosure:33
- Third party payers;34 and
- Administrative entities (as discussed below in section 3(c)).
Any information that is disclosed in accordance with the Part 2 regulations must be limited to the information that is necessary to carry out the intended purpose of the disclosure.35 If an entity receives an impermissible request to disclose covered information, its response may not affirmatively reveal that an identified individual has been or is a patient (but may reveal that an identified individual is not and never has been a patient, if applicable).36
Footnotes
- 30. Disclosure includes communicating patient identifying information, affirmatively verifying another person’s communication of patient identifying information, or communicating any information from the record of a patient who has been identified (42 CFR § 2.11, at “Disclose or disclosure”).
- 31. 42 CFR § 2.1(a) (referencing § 290ee-3(a)); 42 CFR § 2.2(a) (referencing § 290dd-3(a)); 42 CFR § 2.12(a)(1).
- 32. 42 CFR § 2.12(d)(2)(iii) (Note: the relevant re-disclosure provision is located at 42 CFR § 2.32 and is discussed in Section 4).
- 33. 42 CFR § 2.12(d)(2).
- 34. An entity who pays, or agrees to pay, for diagnosis or treatment furnished to a patient on the basis of a contractual relationship with the patient or a member of his family or on the basis of the patient’s eligibility for federal, state, or local governmental benefits (42 CFR § 2.11, at “Third party payer”).
- 35. 42 CFR § 2.13(a).
- 36. 42 CFR § 2.13(c)(2).
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