2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - Revised Statutes §36-845  Hospitals; required request; search and notification; immunity; authorization form; definition

A. The person in charge of a hospital or the person's designee shall establish an organ and tissue procurement for transplant protocol that includes the notification of an appropriate organ procurement organization, that designates hospital or organ procurement agency personnel who may obtain consent to donate an anatomical gift pursuant to subsection B of this section and that requires specified training for the personnel who request consent.

B. If at or near the time of death there is no medical record that the decedent has executed a document of gift or refused to make an anatomical gift, the hospital administrator or the administrator's designee shall make reasonable efforts to:

1. Discuss the option to make or refuse to make an anatomical gift with the appropriate persons listed in section 36-843, subsection A.

2. Obtain the written consent or written refusal to make an anatomical gift from the appropriate persons listed in section 36-843, subsection A.

3. Request the making of an anatomical gift pursuant to section 36-843. If the request is made by a representative of an organ procurement agency that person shall make reasonable efforts to first consult the administrator of the hospital or the administrator's designee to ensure that the request is made with reasonable discretion and sensitivity to the circumstances of the appropriate surrogate decision maker.

C. An entry shall be made in the medical record of the patient stating the name and affiliation of the person who made the request and the name, response and relationship to the patient of the person to whom the request was made.

D. Information concerning organ or tissue donation solicited by the hospital at the time of hospital admission does not fulfill a hospital's obligation to request an anatomical gift under this section.

E. A hospital, person, requestor or entity is not subject to civil damages or legal action as a consequence of good faith acts or omissions related to procurement of parts in compliance with this article. All acts and omissions are presumed to be in good faith unless the acts or omissions are done with intent to maliciously cause injury.

F. A consent to donate an anatomical gift constitutes a limited waiver of a patient's confidentiality provided by sections 12-2235 and 12-2292 to the extent that the appropriate organ procurement agency may have access to and may obtain a copy of all or any portion of a medical record necessary to determine whether a person is a suitable organ or tissue donor. A hospital shall release copies of the decedent's medical records to an organ procurement agency on request and may charge the organ procurement agency reasonable copying charges. An organ procurement agency shall keep the records confidential and privileged to the same extent as required of the hospital from which they are obtained.

G. Except as provided in subsection H of this section, a consent to make an anatomical gift pursuant to this section is valid only if a requestor provides the person authorized to give consent with a written anatomical gift authorization form that requires that person to initial each specific anatomical gift of organ or tissue that person is authorizing. Changes to the authorization form must be documented in writing as required by this section. The form shall provide the person giving consent pursuant to section 36-843 notice of the opportunity to have a third person physically or telephonically present during the initialing of each specific anatomical gift and signing of the form. The requestor shall document on the form the date, time, location and the third person present for the execution and any amendment of the form. The requestor must provide a copy of the initialed form to the person giving consent.

H. If the authorization for an anatomical gift occurs by telephone, the requestor receiving the authorization shall record the conversation. The requestor shall also send a copy of the completed anatomical gift authorization form to the person giving consent. On request, the requestor shall send a transcript or copy of the recorded conversation to the person giving consent.

I. For the purposes of this section, "requestor" means a hospital administrator or the hospital administrator's designee, which may include an agent of an organ procurement organization or an agent of an organ procurement agency.