Arizona § 36-2220 - Records; confidentiality; definition

§ 36-2220. Records; confidentiality; definition

A. Information developed, records kept and data collected by the department or a political subdivision of this state for the purpose of administering or evaluating the Arizona emergency medical services system or for the trauma system are available to the public except:

1. Any patient record, including clinical records, prehospital care records, medical reports, laboratory statements and reports, any file, film, record or report or oral statement relating to diagnostic findings, treatment or outcome of patients, whether written or recorded, and any information from which a patient, the patient's family or the patient's health care provider or facility might be identified except records, files and information are available to the patient, the patient's guardian or the patient's agent.

2. Information obtained and data collected for purposes of chapter 25 or chapter 4, article 5 of this title.

B. Unless otherwise provided by law, all medical records developed and kept by a prehospital component of the statewide trauma system and information contained in these records are confidential and may not be released to the public without written authorization by the patient, the patient's guardian or the patient's agent.

C. Notwithstanding subsection B of this section, a prehospital incident history report completed and kept by a nonhospital political subdivision of this state is available to the public except for information in that report that is protected from disclosure by the laws of this state or federal law, including confidential patient treatment information.

D. Patient records and medical records covered by this section may be obtained pursuant to section 12-2294.01.

E. Information, documents and records received by the department or prepared by the department in connection with an investigation that is conducted pursuant to this article and that relates to emergency medical care technicians are confidential and are not subject to public inspection or civil discovery. The results of the investigation and the decision of the department are available to the public after the investigation is completed and the investigation file is closed.

F. For the purposes of this section, "prehospital incident history report" means a record of the prehospital response, nature of the incident and transportation of an emergency medical services patient that is documented on a prehospital incident history report.