Chapter 02. Release of Confidential Information in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Regulation .01 Confidential Information.LinkCopy Citation
All information relating to personal facts and circumstances, such as names and addresses, medical examinations, and financial resources, obtained by the State or local staff administering the programs of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau shall be treated as confidential and may not be disclosed without the individual’s consent, except as may be necessary to provide services to individual mothers and children or as otherwise required by law. Information may be disclosed, however, in summary, statistical, or other form which does not identify individuals.
Regulation .02 Disclosure of Confidential Information.LinkCopy Citation
All records and information shall be held confidential and may not be disclosed without the individual's consent, except as may be necessary to provide services to the individual mother or child or as otherwise required by law. This means that:
A.
Confidential information may be released without the patient's or parent's consent to agencies, institutions, or individuals who are authorized to provide maternal and child health services to the mother or child as a part of the program of the Maryland Department of Health.
B.
Confidential information may be released to other public agencies to the extent that they are authorized to provide services for the health and welfare of the mother or child for whom the patient, or the patient’s parent in the case of a minor, has requested services. In these circumstances, the information may be disclosed only if written assurances are given to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau that:
(1)
The confidential character of the information will be preserved;
(2)
The confidential information will be used only for the purpose for which it is disclosed;
(3)
The purposes for the disclosure are reasonably related to the purposes of the program of the Maryland Department of Health and the functioning of the other agencies; and
(4)
The standards of protection established by the other agencies to which the confidential information is released are of equal or greater stringency than those established by the Maryland Department of Health itself.
Regulation .03 Responsibility for Confidential Records and Information.LinkCopy Citation
The Director of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, working under the Secretary of Health:
A.
Is responsible for carrying out this regulation and procedures;
B.
Shall initiate suitable office practices to assure the protection of confidential records; and
C.
Is responsible for informing staff employees who have access to confidential records and information.
Regulation .04 Permissible Disclosure.LinkCopy Citation
Information may be disclosed in summary, statistical, or other form, which does not make it possible to identify any particular individual.
Chapter annotations
Authority: Health-General Article, §§2-104(b), 4-102, 4-301—4-309, and 15-125, Annotated Code of Maryland
History: Effective date: July 20, 1950
History: Chapter revised effective December 20, 1993 (20:25 Md. R. 1946)
History: Regulation .01 amended effective October 22, 2007 (34:21 Md. R. 1914); March 14, 2016 (43:5 Md. R. 385)
History: Regulation .02 amended effective October 22, 2007 (34:21 Md. R. 1914)
History: Regulation .02B amended effective March 14, 2016 (43:5 Md. R. 385)
History: Regulation .03 amended effective October 22, 2007 (34:21 Md. R. 1914); March 14, 2016 (43:5 Md. R. 385)