Section 17: Records; inspection
[ Text of section effective until November 25, 2025. For text effective November 25, 2025, see below.]
Section 17. The department shall keep records of the admission, treatment and periodic review of all persons admitted to facilities under its supervision. Such records shall be private and not open to public inspection except (1) upon proper judicial order whether or not in connection with pending judicial proceedings, (2) that the commissioner shall allow the attorney of a patient or resident to inspect records of said patient if requested to do so by the patient, resident or attorney, and (3) that the commissioner may permit inspection or disclosure when in the best interest of the patient or resident as provided in the rules and regulations of the department. This section shall govern the patient records of the department notwithstanding any other provision of law.
Chapter 123B: Section 17. Records; inspection; disclosure of patient records after death; destruction of records; promulgation of records by the department of developmental services
[ Text of section as amended by 2025, 73, Secs. 42 and 43 effective November 25, 2025. For text effective until November 25, 2025, see above.]
Section 17. The department shall keep records of the admission, treatment and periodic review of all persons admitted to facilities under its supervision. Such records shall be private and not open to public inspection except (1) upon proper judicial order whether or not in connection with pending judicial proceedings, (2) that the commissioner shall allow the attorney of a patient or resident to inspect records of said patient if requested to do so by the patient, resident or attorney, and (3) that the commissioner may permit inspection or disclosure when in the best interest of the patient or resident as provided in the rules and regulations of the department. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that disclosure of patient records more than 50 years after the death of the patient is in the best interest of the patient; provided, that the: (i) records are facility records; and (ii) requestor is a close relative or engaged in academic research. The department shall make best efforts to redact any personal identifying information of living individuals in such patient records in order to avoid undue invasions of privacy. The department shall promulgate regulations in collaboration with the department of mental health to implement this rule. This section shall govern the patient records of the department notwithstanding any other provision of law. Each facility, subject to this chapter and section 7 of chapter 19B, shall maintain resident records for not less than 20 years after the closing of the record due to discharge, death or last date of service. A facility shall not destroy such records until after the retention period has elapsed and only upon notifying the department of public health that the records will be destroyed; provided, however, that the department of developmental services shall promulgate regulations further defining an appropriate notification process. Each notice of privacy practices by a facility shall include, but not be limited to: (i) information concerning the provisions of this section; and (ii) the facility's records termination policy.