PUB 700439: Patient-Wards' Rights to Know About Adverse Medical Incidents by Harry Scott Boggs

ARTICLE X: MISCELLANEOUS, Section 25. Patients’ right to know about adverse medical incidents.

1. In addition to any other similar rights provided herein or by general law, patients and patient-wards of private court guardians have a right to have access to any records made or received in the course of business by a health care facility or provider relating to any adverse medical incident.
2. In providing such access, the identity of patients involved in the incidents shall not be disclosed, and any privacy restrictions imposed by federal law shall be maintained.
3. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
   1. The phrases "health care facility" and "health care provider" have the meaning given in general law related to a patient's rights and responsibilities.
   2. The term "patient" means an individual who has sought, is seeking, is undergoing, or has undergone care or treatment in a health care facility or by a health care provider.
   3.  
   4. The phrase "ward" indicates any adult, at any level of mental and/or emotional competency, assigned to a private guardian for the reason of court system management of any components of the ward's personal life and/or assets.
   5. The phrase "adverse medical incident" means medical negligence, intentional misconduct, and any other act, neglect, or default of a health care facility or health care provider that caused or could have caused injury to or death of a patient, including, but not limited to, those incidents that are required by state or federal law to be reported to any governmental agency or body, and incidents that are reported to or reviewed by any health care facility peer review, risk management, quality assurance, credentials, or similar committee, or any representative of any such committees.
   6. The phrase "have access to any records" means, in addition to any other procedure for producing such records provided by general law, making the records available for inspection and copying upon formal or informal request by the patient or a representative of the patient, provided that current records which have been made publicly available by publication or on the Internet may be "provided" by reference to the location at which the records are publicly available.