68-11-259 - Establishment and maintenance of a trauma registry Compliance Confidentiality. - Tennessee Statutes

68-11-259. Establishment and maintenance of a trauma registry Compliance Confidentiality.

(a)  The board shall establish and maintain a central registry of persons who are treated for trauma at designated trauma centers or comprehensive regional pediatric centers (CRPCs). To further the purpose of this section, the board has the authority to collect injury incidence information, including medical records and patient-identifying information, from designated trauma centers and CRPCs, analyze the information, and conduct special studies regarding the causes and consequences of traumatic injury. The board also has the authority to promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, to administer the registry and its activities, which regulations may require the reporting trauma centers and CRPCs to use a particular form approved by the board, and which regulations may prescribe penalties to be imposed for failure to abide by reporting requirements.

(b)  A hospital holding a trauma center or CRPC designation shall complete and submit the reports required by this section as a condition of continuing the designation.

(c)  No information contained in the trauma registry that reasonably could be expected to reveal the identity of any patient may be made available to the public, and no information contained in the trauma registry that reasonably could be expected to disclose the identity or identities of specific reporting facilities may be made available to the public. The information submitted to the board pursuant to this section shall be used solely for the purpose of analyzing causes and medical consequences of serious trauma and promoting the continuum of care that provides timely and appropriate delivery of emergency medical treatment for people with acute traumatic injury; provided, however, that the specific information required by this section that pertains to health care professionals licensed under title 63 or title 68, or health care facilities licensed under title 68, shall be confidential, shall not be subject to public inspection, and shall not be used to initiate disciplinary complaints nor be admissible in any administrative proceeding for licensure discipline. The board shall prescribe conditions under which the processed and verified data can be made available to the public.

(d)  No person or entity may be held liable in any civil action with respect to any report or disclosure of information made under this section, unless the person or entity has knowledge of any falsity of the information reported or disclosed.

[Acts 2005, ch. 206, § 1.]