TxHIMA | Texas Health Information Management Association

Texas Laws Affecting HIM Professionals

Legislation in Texas plays a substantial part of our lives in the HIM Profession.

From consents to disclosures, destruction to retention, State Law must always be considered. To assist in keeping HIM Departments up to date on the legislation that exists, TxHIMA is starting to develop a State Law section of our http://www.txhima.org website.

The list below is not inclusive, but rather a starting point. If you are aware of a state law pertinent in the day-to-day operations of our profession, please send an email to txhima@txhima.org. If you have the link, that's great. If not, just give us the name/number of the law and we'll do the research.

In the meantime, please review the links that we have listed below.

Bill Number and Status	Brief Description
Senate Bill 271 - Texas Missing Angels Bill	Senate Bill 271, also known as the “Texas Missing Angels Bill”, was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry on June 9, 2005. The law allows parents of a stillborn child to secure a certificate signifying that the birth resulted in stillbirth. Effective September 1, 2005, parents of stillborn children in Texas can receive a “Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth”, regardless of the date of stillbirth. At the parents’ request, the certificate would reflect the baby’s name or “Baby Boy” or “Baby Girl” and the parents’ surname. SB 271 by Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, also requires any person who prepares a fetal death certificate, such as a funeral home employee, to offer the parents of a stillborn child a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. Press release was issued from the office of State Senator Judith Zaffirini and published on June 15, 2005. Contact information given as Gabe Valenzuela, (512) 463-0121.

Confidentiality of Social Security Number	A person may not print an individual's social security number on a card or other device required to access a product or service provided by the person unless the individual has requested in writing such printing.

Proposed New Rules For Texas Cancer Registries	New Reporting Rules : The Texas Board of Health has approved the posting in the Texas Register of the new rules supporting SB 285 which amended Chapter 82, Health and Safety Code. The Texas Register posted rules are available for public comment from June 29, 2002 to July 28, 2002.

Disclosure of Health Care Information	This law pertains to hospitals and release of information. The fee portion of this law changes on an annual basis in September. For up-to-date fees, look under Maximum Copy Fees.

Physician-Patient Communication (updated)	This is a newly revised law for physician offices. This law updated the Physician-Patient Communication statute (below)

Physician-Patient Communication	This is the prior version of the law related to physicians and release of information.

Mental Health Records	This law relates to mental health records and release of information.

Senate Bill 11	This newly enacted law relates to privacy of protected health information and is very similar to the Federal HIPAA rule.

Subpoenas	This section describes what constitutes a valid state subpoena and discusses delivery.

State Witness Fees	This statues indicates the fee structure for witness fees at the state level.

Subpoenas - Rule 45	This rule describes federal subpoenas.

Federal Witness Fees	This statue indicates fee structure regarding federal witness fees.

Billing Office Affidavit	This section delineates a person's responsibility in a billing office for completing an affidavit. This does not apply to medical records custodian.

State Record Retention	State medical record retention law.

X-Ray Film Radiology Retention	The CMS Condition of Participation rules related to X-Ray film retention.

Retention of Health Information (AHIMA)	AHIMA's Practice Brief regarding record retention.

Physician Office Record Retention	This statute outlines record retention requirements for private physician offices, includes fees & info on imaging records.

Common Law Marriage	Section 2.401 discusses what it takes to be a common law spouse. The issue comes up with release of information often.

Emancipated Minor	This statute outlines what it takes for a child to be an emancipated minor. This issue comes up with release of information often.

Texas Department of Insurance, Privacy	Chapter 22, Subchapter B (Insurance Consumer Health Information Privacy) which relates to the insurance companies and the new requirements for them to meet HIPAA guidelines, should be monitored to ensure they are in line with the current known aspects of HIPAA.