Texas Health and Safety Code

§ 108.013 — CONFIDENTIALITY AND GENERAL ACCESS TO DATA

HS § 108.013Title 2. HEALTH · Part E. HEALTH CARE COUNCILS AND RESOURCE CENTERS · Ch. 108. HEALTH CARE DATA COLLECTION

Statute text

(a)The data received by the department under this chapter shall be used by the department and commission only for the benefit of the public. Subject to specific limitations established by this chapter and department rule, the department shall make determinations on requests for information in favor of access.

(b)The executive commissioner by rule shall designate the characters to be used as uniform patient identifiers. The basis for assignment of the characters and the manner in which the characters are assigned are confidential.

(c)Unless specifically authorized by this chapter, the department may not release and a person or entity may not gain access to any data obtained under this chapter:

(1)that could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of a patient;

(2)that could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of a physician;

(3)disclosing provider discounts or differentials between payments and billed charges;

…

Legislative history

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 873 (S.B. 156), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., 1st C.S., Ch. 7 (S.B. 7), Sec. 7.04, eff. September 28, 2011. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0355, eff. April 2, 2015. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 344 (H.B. 764), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2015.