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Pennsylvania Statutes Title 50 P.S. Mental Health § 7111. Confidentiality of records

Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(a) All documents concerning persons in treatment shall be kept confidential and, without the person's written consent, may not be released or their contents disclosed to anyone except:

(1) those engaged in providing treatment for the person;

(2) the county administrator, pursuant to section 110;  1

(3) a court in the course of legal proceedings authorized by this act;

(4) pursuant to Federal rules, statutes and regulations governing disclosure of patient information where treatment is undertaken in a Federal agency; and

(5) a covered entity or a covered entity's business associate that makes the use, disclosure or request for disclosure in accordance with 45 CFR Pt. 164 Subpt. E 2 (relating to privacy of individually identifiable health information).

In no event, however, shall privileged communications, whether written or oral, be disclosed to anyone without such written consent. This shall not restrict the collection and analysis of clinical or statistical data by the department, the county administrator or the facility so long as the use and dissemination of such data does not identify individual patients. Nothing herein shall be construed to conflict with section 8 of the act of April 14, 1972 (P.L. 221, No. 63),  3 known as the “Pennsylvania Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Act.”

(b) This section shall not restrict judges of the courts of common pleas, mental health review officers and county mental health and mental retardation administrators from disclosing information to the Pennsylvania State Police or the Pennsylvania State Police from disclosing information to any person, in accordance with the provisions of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105(c)(4) (relating to persons not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell or transfer firearms).

1 50 P.S. § 7110.
2 45 C.F.R. § 164.500 et seq.
3 71 P.S. § 1690.108.
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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Pennsylvania Statutes Title 50 P.S. Mental Health § 7111. Confidentiality of records - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-50-ps-mental-health/pa-st-sect-50-7111/

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