Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-6-214 - Grounds for License Denial, Suspension, or Revocation and Reporting Misconduct

A physician may transfer a patient’s x-rays and medical imaging to a person out of state who is not licensed to practice medicine in Tennessee for treatment of a patient located within the state of Tennessee only under the following circumstances:

•         To obtain a second opinion by a Tennessee licensed physician;
•         To obtain treatment for a patient seeking treatment outside of Tennessee;
•         It is used to determine insurance coverage;
•         It is used by an out of state physician to provide academic consultations to a school in Tennessee;
•         It is used by an insurance company or other company for risk evaluation, utilization review, claims processing, or evaluation of claimant’s rehabilitation;
•         The information is used in clinical trials for FDA approved drugs.

A transfer of this information for reasons other than those listed will be grounds for disciplinary action against the transferring physician.  These restrictions do not apply to research hospitals in the state. 

If a notice of charges against a practitioner has been filed, the board may disclose as a public record the information and those materials or documents that serve as the basis for the charges against the practitioner.  The board must keep the identifying information about a complainant, a patient and medical records confidential until and unless such information is introduced in the proceedings.