TITLE 32.1. HEALTH.

§§ 32.1-13.1, 32.1-122.01, and 32.1-122.03 through 32.1-122.08 amended; § 32.1-122.02 repealed.
Virginia Health Planning Board. Repeals the Virginia Health Planning Board, which has not been operating for many years, and authorizes the Board of Health to perform health planning functions. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission in furtherance of the objective to identify obsolete provisions of law pursuant to § 30-151. HB 10; CH. 83.

§ 32.1-23 amended.
Health; pharmaceutical assistance. Expands the toll-free resource and referral program relating to pharmaceutical companies' free drug programs for indigents (so-called compassionate programs) to include information on pharmaceutical discount card programs and locations of Pharmacy Connect programs in the state. Program has a delayed effective date contingent upon funding. HB 560; CH. 896.

§§ 32.1-35 and 32.1-36 amended.
Reporting dangerous microbes and pathogens. Requires laboratories in the Commonwealth to report their inventories and changes of inventories of dangerous microbes and pathogens to the State Department of Health. The laboratories must also immediately report inventory that cannot be accounted for within 24 hours. The Board of Health is to determine the list of dangerous microbes and pathogens to be reported and the manner of such reporting. HB 146; CH. 100.

§§ 32.1-35, 32.1-36, 32.1-38, 32.1-39, and 32.1-42 amended.
Bioterrorism. Requires the Board of Health to mandate reporting of diseases by physicians and laboratory directors that may be caused by exposure to an agent or substance that has the potential for use as a weapon and that the reports will be given directly to Commissioner or his designee using an emergency response system maintained by the Department of Health and operated 24 hours a day. This bill also modifies the present immunity from liability provision relating to required reports or disclosures of disease to provide that physicians and laboratory directors will be held to a reasonable professional standard for recognizing agents or suspecting the presence of any conditions and will be immune from liability when making reports in good faith without gross negligence and within the usual scope of his practice. The Board of Health's responsibility to conduct disease surveillance and investigation (such as contact tracing) is modified to require the Commissioner or his designee to immediately report any outbreak or occurrence of a disease identified as being caused by exposure to an agent or substance that has the potential for use as a weapon to the Department of State Police for investigation. The State Police will report these incidents to the local police chief or sheriff (with law-enforcement authority) or both in the jurisdiction in which the patient resides and where he received treatment. The State Police may also transmit the report to federal and military law-enforcement authorities. The State Police and local law enforcement will immediately determine and implement the appropriate law-enforcement responses to the reports, according to their jurisdiction. These reports will be held confidential and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act; however, the reports will be maintained in the central repository already established by the Department of State Police. Further, the Department of State Police, and any local law enforcement official, may release all or part of any report made or other information obtained pursuant to this section (i) where the release of such report or information may assist in the prevention of imminent harm to public health or safety, or (ii) where the release of such report or information, with patient identifying information removed, may be useful for education of the public on health, safety or homeland defense issues. The Board of Health is also specifically authorized to develop procedures to respond to any bioterrorism. HB 664; CH. 768.

§ 32.1-65 amended.
Newborn testing. Adds to the list of inherited disorders for which newborn testing is required by the Commonwealth, a fatty acid oxidation disorder known as MCAD or MCADH, i.e., medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, which inhibits the proper metabolizing of stored fat. Individuals with MCAD, if left untreated, have episodes of hypoglycemia and Reye's syndrome, which may result in fever, vomiting, coma, disorientation, and fatty infiltration of the liver. Implementation of this test will require the purchase of tandem mass spectrometers, which are technologically advanced analytic instruments that can be used to test newborns for more than 20 treatable metabolic disorders by sorting molecules in blood samples according to weight in a similar fashion to machines that sort coins. This provision will only become effective one year after the date that sufficient funds are appropriated or otherwise secured to (i) support the Virginia Department of Health's costs for start-up professional and family education and (ii) the purchase of the necessary equipment for implementation of the testing program in the Division of Consolidated Laboratories. SB 218; CH. 440 (effective - see bill).

§ 32.1-73.1.
See § 51.5-12.1; SB 620.

§ 32.1-89 amended.
Health; Hemophilia Advisory Board. Changes the composition of the Governor's Hemophilia Advisory Board to allow a representative of blood banks or licensed pharmacists. HB 153; CH. 696.

§§ 32.1-111.14, 32.1-273, 32.1-321.4, and 32.1-350. See § 63.1-1.1; SB 303.

§§ 32.1-116.1 and 32.1-127.1:03 amended.
Certain disclosure of prehospital patient care reports. Authorizes each licensed emergency medical services agency to disclose the prehospital patient care report to law-enforcement officials when the patient is the victim of a crime, upon a determination that such disclosure is not in violation of the federal Department of Health and Human Services regulations relating to the electronic transmission of data and patient privacy promulgated as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. § 1320d et seq.). The Patient Health Records Privacy law is also amended to add this disclosure to the list of permissible releases of patient records. The new federal regulations, which become effective in April of this year but will not be enforced until April of next year, narrowly restrict the release of patient records in many situations. HB 1283; CH. 658/SB 601; CH. 568.

§ 32.1-122.05 amended.
Regional health planning boards. Sets forth the terms and term limits for regional health planning boards and requires reporting and recording of their memberships. This bill also requires the Board of Health to designate the regional health planning agencies. No member will be appointed for more than two consecutive terms of four years each or, when appointed to fill an unexpired term of less than four years, for three consecutive terms consisting of one term of less than four years and two terms of four years. The Board of Health will require each regional health planning board to report and maintain a record of its membership, including, but not limited to, the names, addresses, dates of appointment, years served, number of consecutive and nonconsecutive terms, and the group represented by each member. The membership reports and records will be public information and must be published as a public record in accordance with the regulations of the Board. HB 471; CH. 398.

§ 32.1-122.6:01. See § 23-35.9; HB 1079.

§§ 32.1-122.9 and 32.1-122.9:1 amended.
Health; dental scholarships. Adds requirement that recipients of conditional grants and loans from the Dentist Loan Repayment Program agree to participate in Medicaid and the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan (FAMIS) and that they not restrict the numbers of such clients admitted to their dental practice. These agreements are time-limited according to conditions of the contract and may be repaid in lieu of service. This is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care. SB 414; CH. 52.

§ 32.1-126 amended.
Disputed periodic nursing facility surveys. Requires, unless expressly prohibited by federal statute or regulation, that the findings of the Commissioner of Health, with respect to periodic surveys of nursing facilities conducted pursuant to the Survey, Certification, and Enforcement Procedures set forth in 42 C.F.R. Part 488, will be considered case decisions pursuant to the Administrative Process Act and will be subject to the Department's informal dispute resolution procedures, or the nursing facility, the formal fact-finding procedures under § 2.2-4020. The Commonwealth will be deemed the proponent for purposes of the formal hearing procedures. SB 629; CH. 514.

§ 32.1-127.1:03. See § 63.1-248.3; HB 294.

§ 32.1-127.1:03 amended; § 32.1-127.1:04 added.
Sharing of protected health information between state agencies. Declares the coordination of prevention and control of disease, injury, or disability and the delivery of health care benefits to be (i) necessary public health activities; (ii) necessary health oversight activities for the integrity of the health care system; and (iii) necessary to prevent serious harm and serious threats to the health and safety of individuals and the public. The Departments of Health, Medical Assistance Services, Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and Social Services must establish a secure system for sharing protected health information that may be necessary for the coordination of prevention and control of disease, injury, or disability and the delivery of health care benefits when such protected information concerns individuals who (a) have contracted a reportable disease, including exposure to a toxic substance, as required by the Board of Health pursuant to § 32.1-35 or other disease or disability required to be reported by law; (b) are the subjects of public health surveillance, public health investigations, or public health interventions or are applicants for or recipients of medical assistance services; (c) have been or are the victims of child abuse or neglect or domestic violence; or (d) may present a serious threat to the health or safety of a person or the public or may be subject to a serious threat to their health or safety. Pursuant to the regulations concerning patient privacy promulgated by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, covered entities may disclose protected health information to the secure system without obtaining consent or authorization for such disclosure. Such protected health information will be used exclusively for the purposes established in this section. The Office of the Attorney General will advise the Departments of Health, Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, Medical Assistance Services, and Social Services in the implementation of this section. This provision also amends the patient health records privacy statute to note that providers may make subsequent disclosures of patient records as permitted under the federal Department of Health and Human Services regulations relating to the electronic transmission of data and patient privacy promulgated as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. In addition, providers may disclose the records of a patient as authorized by law relating to public health activities, health oversight activities, serious threats to health or safety or abuse, neglect or domestic violence or as necessary to the coordination of prevention and control of disease, injury, or disability and delivery of health care benefits pursuant to the secure system for sharing protected health information. SB 264; CH. 835.

§§ 32.1-162.16, 32.1-162.18, and 32.1-162.19 amended.
Human research. Revises the definition of human research. The bill adds agents appointed under advanced directives, legal guardians, spouses, adult children, and adult siblings to the list of people authorized to give consent to human research under the definition of "legally authorized representative." The bill provides that if two or more legally authorized representatives having the same priority disagree on participation in human research, the subject will not participate. The bill also changes competent and not-competent to capable or incapable of making an informed decision. Human research review committees are given the additional responsibility of determining whether the risks to the subjects are minimized by using sound research designs and whether additional safeguards are included when the subjects are a vulnerable population. SB 542; CH. 754.

§ 32.1-164.5. See § 62.1-44.19:3; HB 1103.

§§ 32.1-188 and 32.1-189 amended.
Mosquito control districts and commissions; emergency. Authorizes cities having more than one mosquito control district within their boundaries to consolidate such districts and commissions and organize the functions of the resulting consolidated commission under an appropriate city department or other agency. The consolidated city mosquito control commission may consist of no more than 15 commissioners, one of whom shall be the Commissioner or his designee who will chair the consolidated commission. Pursuant to the second enactment clause, this bill will be effective upon passage. HB 1161; CH. 224 (effective 3/22/02)/SB 371; CH. 233 (effective 3/22/02).

§ 32.1-267. See § 17.1-213; SB 153.

§ 32.1-268 amended.
Divorce; vital records. Provides that the report required to be filed by the clerk of court with the State Registrar regarding a final decree of divorce or annulment not contain any statement indicating racial designation. HB 1369; CH. 353.

§ 32.1-283 amended.
Health; investigation of deaths. Adds patients or residents of state mental health or mental retardation facilities who have died to the list of those deaths that must be reported to the medical examiner of the locality in which the facility is located. A copy of the autopsy report must be provided to the Commissioner of and Inspector General for Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. The Department will pay the fee for such services. HB 396; CH. 203.

§ 32.1-297.1 amended.
Virginia Transplant Council. Revises the membership and charge of the Virginia Transplant Council. This bill adds to the membership of the Council one representative of donor families and one representative of transplant recipients. The Council is required to elect these representatives for terms established in its bylaws. In addition, the Council is required to include in its associate, nonvoting membership at least one representative of the faith community and one representative of local public schools. This bill also requires the Council to provide a forum for discussion among its members of any issues of which it may be apprised that could impact the effectiveness of its activities and the relationship between the public and its members. SB 573; CH. 467.

§ 32.1-326.3 amended.
Special education health services and reimbursement by the Department of Medical Assistance Services. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to reimburse school divisions providing health-related services to special education students as participating providers in the Virginia Medicaid program for transportation services between the student's home, the school or other sites where health-related services are to be provided on those days when the special education student is scheduled to receive health-related services at the school or such other site. School divisions providing health-related services to special education students are reimbursed only the federal share. No state money is appropriated for this program. SB 465; CH. 457.

§ 32.1-351 amended.
Children's health insurance programs. Permits a parent, legal guardian, authorized representative or any other adult caretaker with whom the child lives to file an application for a child with the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan. HB 790; CH. 640.

§ 32.1-351.2 amended.
Children's health insurance programs. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish agreements with the Departments of Education and Health to identify children eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch or services through the Women, Infants, and Children program so that their eligibility for Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan may be determined expeditiously. HB 1062; CH. 329.

2002 Digest Home | Code Commission Home