2020 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes
Act 112 - DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL LAW OF 1955 - DEFINITIONS, REPORTS CONFIDENTIALITY OF REPORTS AND RECORDS AND CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISIONS DURING DISASTER EMERGENCY

Session of 2020

No. 2020-112

SB 1110

AN ACT

Amending the act of April 23, 1956 (1955 P.L.1510, No.500), entitled "An act providing for the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases including venereal diseases, fixing responsibility for disease prevention and control, requiring reports of diseases, and authorizing treatment of venereal diseases, and providing for premarital and prenatal blood tests; amending, revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and repealing certain acts," further providing for definitions, for reports and for confidentiality of reports and records; and providing for confidentiality provisions during disaster emergency.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 2(a) of the act of April 23, 1956 (1955 P.L.1510, No.500), known as the Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955, is amended and the section is amended by adding a definition to read:

Section 2.  Definitions.--

The following terms, whenever used in this act, have the meanings indicated in this section, except where the context indicates a clearly different meaning:

(a)  Aerosolized transmission. Person-to-person transmission of a communicable disease by large or small particles that are able to remain airborne for a duration of time to allow infection.

[(a)] (a.1)  Board. The State Advisory Health Board.

* * *

Section 2.  Sections 4 and 15 of the act are amended to read:

Section 4.  Reports.--

(a)  Every physician who treats or examines any person who is suffering from or who is suspected of having a communicable disease, or any person who is or who is suspected of being a carrier, shall make a prompt report of the disease in the manner prescribed by regulation to the local board or department of health which serves the municipality where the disease occurs or where the carrier resides or to the department if so provided by regulation.

(b)  The department or local boards or departments of health may require the heads of hospitals and other institutions, the directors of laboratories, school authorities, the proprietors of hotels, roentgenologists, lodging houses, rooming houses or boarding houses, nurses, midwives, householders, and other persons having knowledge or suspicion of any communicable disease, to make a prompt report of the disease in a manner prescribed by regulation to the local board or department of health which serves the municipality where the disease occurs, or to the department if so provided by regulation.

(c)  Local boards or departments of health shall make reports of the diseases reported to them to the department at such times and in such manner as shall be provided for by regulation.

(d)  Every physician or every person in charge of any institution for the treatment of diseases shall be authorized, upon request of the secretary, to make reports of such diseases and conditions other than communicable diseases which in the opinion of the Advisory Health Board are needed to enable the secretary to determine and employ the most efficient and practical means to protect and to promote the health of the people by the prevention and control of such diseases and conditions other than communicable diseases. The reports shall be made upon forms prescribed by the secretary and shall be transmitted to the department or to local boards or departments of health as requested by the secretary.

(e)  In addition to the requirements under this section, during a proclamation of disaster emergency issued by the Governor that is based upon a communicable disease, any administrator of a health care facility or a personal care home who has knowledge that a patient or resident is suffering from a communicable disease related to the disaster emergency shall make a prompt report of the disease in the manner prescribed by regulation to the local board or department of health which serves the municipality where the patient or resident resides or to the department if so provided by regulation.

Section 15.  Confidentiality of Reports and Records.--

(a)  Except as provided under section 15.1, State and local health authorities may not disclose reports of diseases, any records maintained as a result of any action taken in consequence of such reports, or any other records maintained pursuant to this act or any regulations, to any person who is not a member of the department or of a local board or department of health, except [where necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.] as follows:

(1)  Where necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.

(2)  Where necessary to inform the public of the risk of a communicable disease.

(b)  State and local health authorities may permit the use of data contained in disease reports and other records, maintained pursuant to this act, or any regulation, for research purposes, subject to strict supervision by the health authorities to insure that the use of the reports and records is limited to the specific research purposes.

Section 3.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 15.1.  Confidentiality Provisions During Disaster Emergency.--

(a)  Upon a proclamation of disaster emergency issued or renewed by the Governor due to a communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission, and continuing until sixty (60) days after the expiration or termination of the proclamation of disaster emergency by executive order, proclamation or operation of law, the following confidentiality provisions shall apply to information collected or maintained as a result of the proclamation of disaster emergency:

(1)  The department or local boards or departments of health shall release, within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving information of a confirmed case of the communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission subject to the disaster emergency, the address of the confirmed case to a public safety answering point as defined in 35 Pa.C.S. § 5302 (relating to definitions). The public safety answering point shall provide the address to law enforcement officers, fire department personnel and emergency medical services personnel. Recipients of the address information under this clause shall only use the information for the purpose of notifying law enforcement officers, fire department personnel and emergency medical services personnel that there has been a case of the communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission subject to the disaster emergency at the address to which the law enforcement officers, fire department personnel and emergency medical services personnel have been called to perform an essential job function. Law enforcement officers, fire department personnel and emergency medical services personnel may not use or disclose address information for any purpose other than to carry out an essential job function at the given address.

(2)  The department or local boards or departments of health shall release, within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving information of a confirmed case of the communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission subject to the disaster emergency, the address of the confirmed case of the communicable disease subject to the disaster emergency to coroners and medical examiners in a manner prescribed by the department. Recipients of the address information under this clause shall only use the information for the purpose of notifying staff that there has been a case of the communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission subject to the disaster emergency at the address to which the coroner, medical examiner or staff have been called to perform an essential job function. Coroners, medical examiners and staff receiving this data may not use or disclose address information for any purpose other than to carry out an essential job function at the given address provided under section 1218-B of the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code.

(3)  The department may disclose additional information determined to be essential to protecting public health and safety and to prevent the spread of the communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission subject to the disaster emergency on the factors that determine the basic reproduction number or R-naught (R0) of the communicable disease. In determining the additional factors to disclose, the department shall consider all of the following:

(i)  Requests for data from the General Assembly, including, but not limited to, areas of heightened risk to the residents of this Commonwealth.

(ii)  The factors that contribute to the increased risk of contracting the communicable disease infectious through aerosolized transmission for an individual due to age, gender, race, area of residency or connection to a health care facility, school or place of employment, population density or other factors.

(iii)  Applicable Federal and State privacy and confidentiality requirements, including, but not limited to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936).

(b)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this section shall not apply to cities and counties of the first class for the duration of the period of proclamation of disaster emergency issued by the Governor on March 6, 2020, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), and any renewal of the state of disaster emergency.

Section 4.  This act shall take effect immediately.

APPROVED--The 3rd day of November, A.D. 2020.

TOM WOLF