CHAPTER 250
HB 1546 – FINAL VERSION
07Mar2006… 0969h
11May2006… 2216eba
2006 SESSION
01/04
HOUSE BILL 1546
AN ACT relative to patient information.
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill clarifies the patient information that is to be provided to a patient by a health care provider.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07Mar2006… 0969h
11May2006… 2216eba
06-2817
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT relative to patient information.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
250:1 Medical Records; Health Care Provider. Amend RSA 332-I:1, II to read as follows:
II. In this chapter, “health care provider” means any person, corporation, facility, or institution either licensed by this state or otherwise lawfully providing health care services, including, but not limited to, a physician, hospital, office, clinic, health center or other health care facility, dentist, nurse, optometrist, pharmacist, podiatrist, physical therapist, or [psychologist] mental health professional, and any officer, employee, or agent of such provider acting in the course and scope of employment or agency related to or supportive of health care services.
250:2 Patient Information. RSA 332-I:2 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
332-I:2 Patient Information.
I.(a) The patient has the right to courtesy, respect, dignity, responsiveness, and timely attention to his or her needs.
(b) The patient has the right to receive information from the health care provider and to discuss the benefits, risks, and costs of appropriate treatment alternatives.
(c) The patient shall be fully informed by the health care provider of his or her medical condition, health care needs and diagnostic test results, including the manner by which such results will be provided and the expected time interval between testing and receiving results, unless medically inadvisable and so documented in the medical record.
(d) The patient has the right to make decisions regarding the health care that is recommended by the health care provider. Accordingly, patients may accept or refuse any recommended medical treatment and be involved in experimental research upon the patient’s written consent only.
(e) The health care provider shall not reveal confidential communications or information without the consent of the patient, unless provided for by law or by the need to protect the welfare of the individual or the public interest.
II. Facilities subject to RSA 151:21 and RSA 151:21-b shall be exempt from paragraph I.
250:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: June 5, 2006
Effective: August 4, 2006