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The Florida Statutes
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The 1998 Florida Statutes
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1395.0198 Notification of adverse incident; public records exemption.--The information contained in the notification of an adverse incident, which is required under s. 395.0197(7) and provided to the Agency for Health Care Administration by a facility licensed under this chapter is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. In addition, the information is not discoverable or admissible in a civil or administrative action, unless the action is a disciplinary proceeding by the Agency for Health Care Administration or the appropriate regulatory board. The information may not be made available to the public as part of the record of investigation or prosecution in a disciplinary proceeding which is made available by the Agency for Health Care Administration or a regulatory board. This exemption is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2003, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
History.--s. 1, ch. 98-321.
1Note.--Section 2, ch. 98-321, provides that "[t]he Legislature finds that the exemption from public disclosure provided for in [s. 395.0198] is a public necessity because it would be an invasion of a patient's privacy for such personal, sensitive information contained in the notification of an adverse incident to be publicly available. Furthermore, the Legislature finds that failure to protect the confidentiality of any information submitted to or collected by the Agency for Health Care Administration pursuant to s. 395.0197(7), Florida Statutes, regarding an adverse incident, including, but not limited to, the identity of the patient, the type of adverse incident, potential risk to other patients, and the fact that an investigation is being conducted, would deter the collection and reporting of this information to the agency. This would prevent the agency from effectively carrying out its responsibility to enforce corrective measures by a facility regarding the occurrence of an adverse incident. Release of such information would deter licensed facilities from internally reporting and correcting situations resulting in adverse incidents. This could lead to the deterioration of services rendered, all to the detriment of the health of those served. This exemption simply extends existing exemptions already in s. 395.0197, Florida Statutes, regarding the same information to the new, earlier reporting requirement. The Legislature has thus consistently and repeatedly acknowledged the public necessity of these types of exemptions."
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