54.1-2400.02 - Information concerning health professionals; posting of addresses on the Internet; providing personal information under certain circumstances prohibited; collection of address informati - Virginia Statutes

§ 54.1-2400.02. Information concerning health professionals; posting ofaddresses on the Internet; providing personal information under certaincircumstances prohibited; collection of address information from healthprofessionals.

A. In order to protect the privacy and security of health professionals, theposting of addresses to the on-line licensure lookup or any successor ininterest thereof shall only disclose the city or county provided to theDepartment and shall not include any street, rural delivery route, or postoffice address. However, the street address of facilities regulated by theBoards of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, Nursing, Pharmacy, and VeterinaryMedicine shall be posted.

B. The Department shall collect an official address of record from eachhealth professional licensed, registered, or certified by a health regulatoryboard within the Department, to be used by the Department and relevant healthregulatory boards for agency purposes, including workforce planning andemergency contact pursuant to § 54.1-2506.1. Such official address of recordshall otherwise remain confidential, shall not be provided to any privateentity for resale to another private entity or to the public, and shall beexempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 etseq.).

C. In addition, the Department shall provide an opportunity for the healthprofessional to provide a second address, for the purpose of publicdissemination. Health professionals may choose to provide a work address, apost office box, or a home address as the public address. In collecting suchpublic address information, the Department shall notify health professionalsthat this address may be publicly disclosed, and is subject to the Freedom ofInformation Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.). Notwithstanding the provisions ofsubsection B, if a health professional does not provide a second address, hisofficial address of record shall also be used as the public address for thepurpose of public dissemination.

D. The Department shall develop a procedure for health professionals toupdate their address information at regular intervals, and may charge a feesufficient to cover the costs for such updates.

(2003, c. 310; 2009, c. 687.)