Colorado § 25-20.5-2305 - Overdose fatality review access to information - fees - disclosure - no liability for sharing records.

§ 25-20.5-2305. Overdose fatality review access to information - fees - disclosure - no liability for sharing records.

(1) The chair of a local team may request information from a person, agency, or entity described in subsection (2) of this section as necessary to carry out the purposes and duties of the local team that are set forth in the order, agreement, or other document establishing the local team. Subject to subsection (4) of this section, but notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law to the contrary, upon written request of the chair of a local team, a person, agency, or entity shall provide the local team with the following:

(a) If the person, agency, or entity is a health-care provider, substance use disorder treatment provider, hospital, or other health-care facility or behavioral health entity, information and records maintained by the person, agency, or entity regarding the physical health, mental health, and substance use disorder treatment for a person whose death or near death is being reviewed by the local team; and

(b) If the agency or entity is a state or local government agency or entity that provided services to a person whose death or near death is being reviewed by the local team or provided services to the family of the person, information and records maintained by the agency or entity about the person, including death investigative information, medical examiner investigative information, law enforcement investigative information, emergency medical services reports, fire department records, prosecutorial records, parole and probation information and records, court records, school records, and information and records of a department of human or social services, including the local human services and public health agencies.

(2) The following persons, agencies, or entities shall comply with a records request by the chair of a local team made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section:

(a) A coroner or medical examiner;

(b) A fire department;

(c) A health-care facility;

(d) A hospital;

(e) A state or local law enforcement agency;

(f) A state or local governmental agency, including the department of human services, including the behavioral health administration; the department of public health and environment, so long as the department of public health and environment created or holds the records and the release does not violate any agreement not to release the records; the department of law; the office of state public defender; the department of corrections; and the state board of parole;

(g) A behavioral health entity;

(h) A health-care provider;

(i) A substance use disorder treatment provider;

(j) A school, including a public or private elementary, middle, junior high, or high school, or a public or private institution of postsecondary education described in title 23, including the Auraria higher education center created in article 70 of title 23;

(k) A social services provider;

(l) Ground or air ambulance service agencies; and

(m) Any other person or entity that is in possession of records that are, as determined by the local team, pertinent to the local team's investigation of an overdose fatality.

(3) (a) A person, agency, or entity shall provide requested information to the local team within ten business days after receipt of the written request, excluding weekends and holidays, unless an extension is granted by the chair of the local team. Written requests may include a request submitted via email or facsimile transmission.

(b) A person, agency, or entity that receives a records request from a local team pursuant to this section may charge the local team a reasonable fee for the service of duplicating any records requested by the local team.

(4) The disclosure or redisclosure, in accordance with this section, of a medical record developed in connection with the provision of substance use treatment services, without the authorization of a person in interest, is subject to any limitations that exist pursuant to applicable state or federal law, including a state law listed in section 25-1-1202, 42 U.S.C. sec. 290dd-2, and 42 CFR 2.

(5) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the local team does not need an administrative subpoena or other form of legal compulsion to receive requested records.

(6) The chair of a local team, or the chair's designee, may request a person whose overdose is under review or, if deceased, the person's next of kin to sign a consent form for the release of confidential information.

(7) So long as each individual present at a local team meeting has signed the confidentiality form described in section 25-20.5-2306, any information received by the chair of the local team in response to a request under this section may be shared at a local team meeting with local team members and any nonmember attendees.

(8) A person, agency, or entity that provides information or records to a local team pursuant to this part 23 is not subject to civil or criminal liability or any professional disciplinary action pursuant to state law as a result of providing the information or record.

(9) A member of the local team may contact, interview, or obtain information by request from a family member or friend of a person whose death is being reviewed by the local team.

Source: L. 2024: Entire part added, (SB 24-047), ch. 440, p. 3077, § 7, effective June 6.