Title 68, Health, Safety and Environmental Protection

(a) (1) All data obtained from the reports required by this part are for the confidential use of the department and persons that the commissioner determines are necessary to carry out the intent of this part.(2) Information that could possibly identify individuals whose medical r…

A hospital, laboratory, facility, or health care practitioner that reports information to the department or allows the commissioner or the commissioner's authorized representative access to the medical records of cancer patients, as required by this part, shall not be held liable…

No patient whose medical records are the subject of data collected in the reports required by this part shall be subjected to any medical examination or case supervision by the commissioner or the commissioner's agents for the purposes of this part.

(a) Any person receiving information containing the personal identity of any patient, who willfully divulges that identity, except as lawfully provided for in this chapter, commits a Class C misdemeanor. (b) It is the duty of the district attorney general to prosecute a suit, bas…

(a) The department of health shall be organized into the following divisions:(1) The division of sanitary engineering, the head of which shall be the sanitary engineer;(2) The division of laboratories, the head of which shall be the bacteriologist;(3) The division of tuberculosis…

(a) In order to obtain complete information on Tennessee cancer patients who have been diagnosed or treated in other states, and in order to provide information to other states regarding their residents who have been diagnosed or treated for cancer in Tennessee, the commissioner …

The department shall annually compile and publish reports utilizing the data collected pursuant to this part and shall make these reports available to the governor, the general assembly, and the public.

(a) The department of health shall be under the charge and general supervision of the commissioner of health, who shall be appointed by the governor in the same manner as other commissioners and who shall have the same official status as other commissioners. The commissioner shal…

(a) The commissioner of health may adopt rules and regulations subject to this chapter. (b) The commissioner is empowered to adopt, promulgate and enforce, with the concurrence of the comptroller of the treasury and the commissioner of finance and administration, rules and regula…

(1) The department of health shall have the general supervision of the interests of health and life of the citizens of this state. The commissioner shall:(1) Especially study the vital statistics of this state, and endeavor to make intelligent and profitable use of the records of…

(a) The county legislative bodies are empowered to appropriate such sums of money as may be necessary or expedient to be used in cooperating with the department of health in carrying on health demonstration work in the counties. (b) The state treasurer is authorized and directed …

(a) The state of Tennessee does hereby accept the benefits of any acts now passed or hereafter to be passed by the senate and house of representatives of the United States to provide for cooperation with the states in the protection of mothers and infants and promotion of a publi…

The commissioner of finance and administration, on approval of the fiscal review committee, may procure indemnity insurance, indemnifying the heads of departments of health for the state, counties and cities throughout the state against actions claimed to arise out of acts of omi…

(a) Each hospital licensed under this title or title 33, or the hospital's designated entity, shall report all claims data found on the UB-92 form or a successor form on every inpatient and outpatient discharge to the commissioner of health. A hospital shall report the claims dat…

(a) Each hospital shall apply and use the definitions in subsections (b) and (c) when reporting on the joint annual reports to the department of health, center for health statistics. The center for health statistics and comptroller of the treasury's office shall use and apply the…

The departments of health and human services shall jointly provide to the health and welfare committee of the senate and the health committee of the house of representatives, on or before December 31 each year, a written list of the options available to the state, and the extent …

(a) This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Sudden, Unexplained Child Death Act.” (b) The legislature finds and declares that:(1) Protection of the health and welfare of the children of this state is a goal of its people and the unexpected death of a child is an importa…

(a) The purpose of this part is to help reduce the incidence of injury and death to infants by accurately identifying the cause and manner of death of infants under one (1) year of age. This shall be accomplished by requiring that a death investigation be performed in all cases o…

(1) In order to implement this part, the commissioner of health shall:(1) Promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, as may be necessary to obtain in proper form all information relating to the oc…

Notwithstanding any rule, regulation or law to the contrary, home health care agencies shall keep records dating back five (5) years from the date information is obtained by the agency.

(a) It is prohibited conduct for any department of health employee to knowingly reveal, or cause to be revealed, any information to a person not authorized by the authority of the commissioner to receive or have knowledge of the information that can reasonably be expected to prov…

(a) (1) There is established, as an extension of the office of Title VI compliance within the department of health, an office on civil rights compliance by health care facilities.(2) The office shall monitor, and upon receiving a complaint shall investigate, health care facilitie…

(a) The division of health related boards shall issue monthly a press release containing a disciplinary report, which shall list all disciplinary actions taken by each board during the prior month. The report shall list, by board, the following:(1) Name and professional address o…

The commissioner of health shall promulgate regulations regarding the issuance of information concerning the availability of financial assistance through the state medical assistance program for beneficiaries of group health plans, pursuant to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reco…

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, all persons who wish to obtain a license as a registered professional environmentalist must, by August 31, 1994, submit an application to the board, accompanied by a nonrefundable fee as set by the state board of …

(a) There is established a program for health care professional development for underserved and disadvantaged populations in Tennessee at Meharry Medical College School of Medicine. The program shall develop resources for recruiting, training and deploying physicians for service …

The department of health or any employee of the department of health shall not release information that is not specifically authorized by state or federal law to any insurance company, agency, company or firm, pertaining to the health of any person without the patient's consent, …

(a) Each licensed ambulatory surgical treatment center (ASTC), each licensed birthing center, and each licensed outpatient diagnostic center (ODC) shall report all claims data found on the appropriate form on every discharge to the commissioner of health. ASTCs, birthing centers,…

(a) There is created within the department of health the Tennessee public school nurse program. (b) The chief medical officer for the state, appointed pursuant to § 68-1-102(c), shall serve as executive director of the program. (c) In order to attain the highest level of school a…

(1) It is the duty and responsibility of the executive director of the program to:(1) Assist local education agencies (LEAs) in the development, implementation and coordination of student health policies with regard to first aid emergencies, medications, acute illnesses and infec…

(a) As additional funding is made available for the school nurse program within the general appropriation acts, new school nurse positions may be created within the program. However, in order to ensure orderly, efficient, and effective development, expansion of the program shall …

(a) The commissioner of health, acting in consultation with the executive director of the program, is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to efficiently and effectively implement this part. (b) (1) The rules and regulations shall include, but shall not necess…

Each employee of the program, including each intern resident employed pursuant to § 68-1-1203(c), shall at all times remain in compliance with, and shall fully abide by, all applicable federal, state and local statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances and policies pertaining to ab…

This part shall not be construed to terminate the ability of a local education agency (LEA) to locally employ and supervise school nurses who are not employees of the program.

(a) The commissioner of health is empowered to promulgate emergency rules and regulations pursuant to a waiver of the foreign residence requirement with respect to an alien who agrees to practice medicine in a federally-designated underserved area of the state of Tennessee, in ac…

(a) The department of health shall enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Tennessee Primary Care Association, the Tennessee Hospital Association, and the Tennessee Rural Health Recruitment and Retention Center to work cooperatively with respect to the annual heal…

On or before January 15 of each year, the commissioner of health, in consultation with the department of finance and administration and any other state agency involved in the administration of the safety net program, shall report to the general assembly on data relating to access…

The commissioner is authorized to appoint an individual within the department to coordinate with other state government departments and agencies to ensure that all programs that impact the prevention and treatment of diabetes are coordinated, that duplication of efforts are minim…

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Evidence-based” means a program or practice that meets the following requirements:(A) The program or practice is governed by a program manual or protocol that specifies the nature, quality, and amount of serv…

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the department of health shall assist the council on children's mental health care in developing a plan that will establish demonstration sites in certain geographic areas where children's mental health care is child-centered, family-drive…

(a) No later than July 15 of each year, the department of health shall issue an advisory to the department of education which shall be distributed to schools serving students in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) and in early childhood programs explaining the risks of comm…

(a) No later than July 31, 2013, and at least annually thereafter but more often at the discretion of the commissioner, the department of health shall:(1) (A) Identify the top fifty (50) prescribers who have unique DEA numbers of controlled substances, other than buprenorphine fo…

(a) The department shall develop an optical examination waiver form to permit any patient diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's related dementia, or vascular dementia, to obtain lenses, spectacles, eye glasses, or optical devices using an expired prescription when such …

(a) The boards and commissions created in title 63, in consultation with the division of health related boards, shall develop a plan to create an apprentice program for use by such boards and commissions. (b) The plan developed pursuant to subsection (a) shall include, but not be…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Down Syndrome Information Act of 2018.”

(1) As used in this part:(1) “Department” means the department of health; and(2) “Down syndrome” means a chromosomal condition caused by an error in cell division that results in the presence of an extra whole or partial copy of chromosome 21. (1) “Department” means the departmen…