2006 Code of Virginia § 54.1-2400.2 - Confidentiality of information obtained during an investigation or disciplinary proceeding; penalt...

54.1-2400.2. Confidentiality of information obtained during aninvestigation or disciplinary proceeding; penalty.

A. Any reports, information or records received and maintained by any healthregulatory board in connection with possible disciplinary proceedings,including any material received or developed by a board during aninvestigation or proceeding, shall be strictly confidential. A board may onlydisclose such confidential information:

1. In a disciplinary proceeding before a board or in any subsequent trial orappeal of an action or order, or to the respondent in entering into aconfidential consent agreement under 54.1-2400;

2. To regulatory authorities concerned with granting, limiting or denyinglicenses, certificates or registrations to practice a health profession,including the coordinated licensure information system, as defined in 54.1-3030;

3. To hospital committees concerned with granting, limiting or denyinghospital privileges if a final determination regarding a violation has beenmade;

4. Pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction for good causearising from extraordinary circumstances being shown;

5. To qualified personnel for bona fide research or educational purposes, ifpersonally identifiable information relating to any person is first deleted.Such release shall be made pursuant to a written agreement to ensurecompliance with this section; or

6. To the Health Practitioners' Intervention Program within the Department ofHealth Professions in connection with health practitioners who apply to orparticipate in the Program.

B. In no event shall confidential information received, maintained ordeveloped by any board, or disclosed by the board to others, pursuant to thissection, be available for discovery or court subpoena or introduced intoevidence in any civil action. This section shall not, however, be construedto inhibit an investigation or prosecution under Article 1 ( 18.2-247 etseq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2.

C. Any claim of a physician-patient or practitioner-patient privilege shallnot prevail in any investigation or proceeding by any health regulatory boardacting within the scope of its authority. The disclosure, however, of anyinformation pursuant to this provision shall not be deemed a waiver of suchprivilege in any other proceeding.

D. This section shall not prohibit the Director of the Department of HealthProfessions, after consultation with the relevant health regulatory boardpresident or his designee, from disclosing to the Attorney General, or theappropriate attorney for the Commonwealth, investigatory information whichindicates a possible violation of any provision of criminal law, includingthe laws relating to the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, prescribingor administration of drugs, other than drugs classified as Schedule VI drugsand devices, by any individual regulated by any health regulatory board.

E. This section shall not prohibit the Director of the Department of HealthProfessions from disclosing matters listed in subdivision A 1, A 2, or A 3 of 54.1-2909; from making the reports of aggregate information and summariesrequired by 54.1-2400.3; or from disclosing the information required to bemade available to the public pursuant to 54.1-2910.1.

F. Whenever a complaint or report has been filed about a person licensed,certified, or registered by a health regulatory board and the relevant boardhas concluded that a disciplinary proceeding will not be instituted, theboard may send an advisory letter to the person who was the subject of thecomplaint or report. The relevant board may also inform the source of thecomplaint or report that (i) an investigation has been conducted, (ii) thematter was concluded without a disciplinary proceeding, and (iii), ifappropriate, an advisory letter from the board has been communicated to theperson who was the subject of the complaint or report. In providing suchinformation, the board shall inform the source of the complaint or reportthat he is subject to the requirements of this section relating toconfidentiality and discovery.

G. Orders and notices of the health regulatory boards relating todisciplinary actions shall be disclosed.

H. Any person found guilty of the unlawful disclosure of confidentialinformation possessed by a health regulatory board shall be guilty of a Class1 misdemeanor.

(1997, c. 698; 1998, c. 744; 1999, c. 888; 2003, cc. 753, 762; 2004, c. 49;2006, cc. 155, 184.)