Access by the Department, Department of Human Services, Department of Public Health, Department of Community Health, or Regional Office to Records of Any Program Receiving Public Funds; Confidentiality

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Mental Health
  4. Administration of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Addictive Diseases, and Other Disability Services
  5. General Provisions
  6. Access by the Department, Department of Human Services, Department of Public Health, Department of Community Health, or Regional Office to Records of Any Program Receiving Public Funds; Confidentiality

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  1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, to ensure the quality and integrity of patient and client care, any program receiving any public funds from, or subject to licensing, certification, or facility approval by, the department, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Community Health, or a regional office shall be required to provide the department or the appropriate regional office or both, upon request, complete access to, including but not limited to authorization to examine and reproduce, any records required to be maintained in accordance with contracts, standards, or rules and regulations of the department, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Health, or the Department of Community Health or pursuant to the provisions of this title.
  2. Records obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall not be considered public records and shall not be released by the department, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Community Health, or any regional office unless otherwise specifically authorized by law.
  3. The community service board shall maintain a clinical record for each consumer receiving treatment or habilitation services from such board. The treatment of clinical records of consumers in receiving services for mental illness shall be governed by the provisions of Code Section 37-3-166. The treatment of clinical records of consumers receiving habilitation services for developmental disabilities shall be governed by the provisions of Code Section 37-4-125. The treatment of clinical records of consumers in treatment for addictive diseases shall be governed by the provisions of Code Section 37-7-166.

(Code 1981, §37-2-11.2, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1059, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 16; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1324, § 1-7; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 3-1/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 5-24/HB 214.)

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, inserted "the Department of Public Health," in two places in subsection (a), and in subsection (b).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 18.1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to repeal any provision of Chapter 5 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the 'Community Services Act for the Mentally Retarded.' "

Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, § 19, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall become effective on July 1, 1994; provided, however, that provisions relating to the establishment of regional and community service board boundaries and the appointments of regional boards and community service boards shall become effective on July 1, 1993, or upon whatever date is stipulated in the Act and provided, further, that the provisions authorizing a county board of health to agree to serve as the lead county board of health for only that county shall become effective upon the approval of this Act by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval." The Act was approved by the Governor on April 27, 1993.

Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, which amends this Code section, provides, in § 19.1, not codified by the General Assembly, that the amendment is repealed on June 30, 1999; however, Ga. L. 1998, p. 870, § 1, struck § 19.1 of Ga. L. 1993, p. 1445, which would have repealed the 1993 amendment to this Code section.

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 147 (2011).


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