05 LC 21
8201
Senate
Bill 204
By:
Senators Kemp of the 46th, Thomas of the 54th, Zamarripa of the 36th, Goggans of
the 7th, Unterman of the 45th and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 33 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to health records, so as to provide that any health care provider, health care
facility, or health care professional may create, maintain, transmit, receive,
and store medical records in an electronic format; to provide conditions; to
provide for legal rights and responsibilities; to provide for tangible copies of
records; to provide for costs; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
33 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to health
records, is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:
"31-33-8.
(a)
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, any health care
provider, health care facility, or health care professional properly licensed
under Chapter 34 of Title 43 may, in its sole discretion, create, maintain,
transmit, receive, and store records, including, without limitation, written
charts and records and microfilm or other photographic media, in an electronic
format within the meaning of Code Section 10-12-3 and may, in its sole
discretion, temporarily or permanently convert records into an electronic
format, subject to the following requirements:
(1)
Any health care provider, health care facility, or health care professional that
uses an electronic record-keeping system shall develop and implement policies
and procedures to ensure the security and confidentiality of those
records;
(2)
Electronic medical records shall be maintained in a legible, transmittable, and
retrievable form which provides reasonable data backup and permits reasonable
access consistent with their intended use;
(3)
Any documents that cannot be electronically stored must be preserved in tangible
form and any related electronically stored record shall identify the location of
any documents or information that could not be electronically stored;
and
(4)
If a health care provider, health care facility, or health care professional
chooses to destroy hard copies of medical records after their conversion to an
electronic medical record, such records shall be destroyed in a manner that
preserves the confidentiality and integrity of the patient´s personal
health information.
(b)
A health care provider, health care facility, or health care professional shall
not be required to maintain separate tangible copies of electronic medical
records.
(c)
The legal rights and responsibilities of patients, health care providers, health
care facilities, and health care professionals shall apply to records created or
maintained in electronic form to the same extent as those rights and
responsibilities apply to medical records embodied in hard copy media. This
subsection applies with respect to the security, confidentiality, accuracy,
integrity, access to, and disclosure of medical records. This Code section is
subject to all applicable federal laws governing the security and
confidentiality of a patient´s personal health information.
(d)
A tangible copy reproduced from the record maintained in the electronic form
shall be considered an original for purposes of providing copies to patients or
other authorized parties and for introduction into evidence in administrative or
court proceedings.
(e)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code section, the costs of copying
and mailing electronic medical records to authorized individuals as provided in
Code Section 31-33-3 shall apply to the extent the health care provider, health
care facility, or health care professional has turned electronic medical records
into hard copy
media."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.