SENATE DOCKET, NO. 621        FILED ON: 1/17/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1470

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Bruce E. Tarr

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to personal health information portability and accessibility.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 621        FILED ON: 1/17/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1470

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2600 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to personal health information portability and accessibility.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 111 as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:-

“Hospital/Clinic” shall mean any health care provider as defined in this section, including, but not limited to: Hospitals, Hospital systems, primary care physicians and internists, urgent and/or acute care facilities, medical doctors of any specialty, psychiatric and/or psychological doctors, licensed social workers or other mental health professionals and therapists, dentists, oral surgeons, orthodontists, chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, speech therapists, paramedics and EMTs, or any other like or similar health care provider or office.”

“Patient,” an individual who is receiving/has received care from a health care provider as defined in this section and any legal guardian, legal representative, administrator/executor of the patient’s estate, attorney, power of attorney, health care proxy, guardian ad litem, conservator, medical advocate, or other court appointed representative.

“Authorized Third Party,” any individual, organization and/or other legal entity who are not the patient as defined above but are contracted or with the patient or authorized in writing by the patient

“Electronic Digital Media Storage Device,” any disk, flash drive, thumb drive, or other similar electronic file storage

SECTION 2. Section 70 of chapter 111 as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition is hereby amended by striking in line 8-11 the following:- “These records may be handwritten, printed, typed or in electronic digital media or converted to electronic digital media as originally created by such hospital or clinic, by the photographic or microphotographic process, or any combination thereof”, and inserting in place thereof the following:- “These records must be kept by secure, electronic digital media or converted to electronic digital media as originally created by such hospital or clinic, by the photographic or microphotographic process, or any combination thereof.”

SECTION 3. Said section 70 of chapter 111 as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition is hereby further amended by striking in lines 31-37 the following:- “which for the purposes of this section shall mean a base charge of not more than $15 for each request for a hospital or clinic medical records; a per page charge of not more than $.50 for each of the first 100 pages of a hospital or clinic medical records that is copied per request; and not more than $.25 per page for each page in excess of 100 pages of a hospital or clinic medical record that is copied per request, except that” and inserting in place thereof the following:- “As the records must be kept by secure, electronic digital media, or converted to electronic digital media as originally created, the hospital or clinic is not permitted to charge the patient as defined in section 1 of this chapter by the page for the production of these records. Rather, a “reasonable fee” shall mean a base administrative fee of not more than $15 for each request for a hospital or clinic medical records, plus the reasonable cost of the Electronic Digital Media Storage Device used to save the records and provide same to the patient, not to exceed $10 per device. In the event that the records are requested by an authorized third party, the hospital or clinic may charge a base administrative fee of not more than $50, plus the reasonable cost of the Electronic Digital Media Storage Device used to save the records and provide same to the third party, not to exceed $10 per device.”