130A-12. Confidentiality of records.
All records containing privileged patient medical information, information protected under 45 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 160 and 164, and information collected under the authority of Part 4 of Article 5 of this Chapter that are in the possession of the Department of Health and Human Services or local health departments shall be confidential and shall not be public records pursuant to G.S. 132-1. Notwithstanding G.S. 8-53, the information contained in the records may be disclosed for purposes of treatment, payment, research, or health care operations to the extent that disclosure is permitted under 45 Code of Federal Regulations 164.506 and 164.512(i). For purposes of this section, the terms "treatment," "payment," "research," and "health care operations" have the meanings given those terms in 45 Code of Federal Regulations 164.501.