[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR2.11]

[Page 10-11]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
    CHAPTER I--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
                                SERVICES
 
PART 2_CONFIDENTIALITY OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE PATIENT RECORDS
--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart B_General Provisions
 
Sec. 2.11  Definitions.


    For purposes of these regulations:
    Alcohol abuse means the use of an alcoholic beverage which impairs 
the physical, mental, emotional, or social well-being of the user.
    Drug abuse means the use of a psychoactive substance for other than 
medicinal purposes which impairs the physical, mental, emotional, or 
social well-being of the user.
    Diagnosis means any reference to an individual's alcohol or drug 
abuse or to a condition which is identified as having been caused by 
that abuse which is made for the purpose of treatment or referral for 
treatment.
    Disclose or disclosure means a communication of patient indentifying 
information, the affirmative verification of another person's 
communication of patient identifying information, or the communication 
of any information from the record of a patient who has been identified.
    Informant means an individual:
    (a) Who is a patient or employee of a program or who becomes a 
patient or employee of a program at the request of a law enforcement 
agency or official: and
    (b) Who at the request of a law enforcement agency or official 
observes one or more patients or employees of

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the program for the purpose of reporting the information obtained to the 
law enforcement agency or official.
    Patient means any individual who has applied for or been given 
diagnosis or treatment for alcohol or drug abuse at a federally assisted 
program and includes any individual who, after arrest on a criminal 
charge, is identified as an alcohol or drug abuser in order to determine 
that individual's eligibility to participate in a program.
    Patient identifying information means the name, address, social 
security number, fingerprints, photograph, or similar information by 
which the identity of a patient can be determined with reasonable 
accuracy and speed either directly or by reference to other publicly 
available information. The term does not include a number assigned to a 
patient by a program, if that number does not consist of, or contain 
numbers (such as a social security, or driver's license number) which 
could be used to identify a patient with reasonable accuracy and speed 
from sources external to the program.
    Person means an individual, partnership, corporation, Federal, State 
or local government agency, or any other legal entity.
    Program means:
    (a) An individual or entity (other than a general medical care 
facility) who holds itself out as providing, and provides, alcohol or 
drug abuse diagnosis, treatment or referral for treatment; or
    (b) An identified unit within a general medical facility which holds 
itself out as providing, and provides, alcohol or drug abuse diagnosis, 
treatment or referral for treatment; or
    (c) Medical personnel or other staff in a general medical care 
facility whose primary function is the provision of alcohol or drug 
abuse diagnosis, treatment or referral for treatment and who are 
identified as such providers. (See Sec. 2.12(e)(1) for examples.)
    Program director means:
    (a) In the case of a program which is an individual, that 
individual:
    (b) In the case of a program which is an organization, the 
individual designated as director, managing director, or otherwise 
vested with authority to act as chief executive of the organization.
    Qualified service organization means a person which:
    (a) Provides services to a program, such as data processing, bill 
collecting, dosage preparation, laboratory analyses, or legal, medical, 
accounting, or other professional services, or services to prevent or 
treat child abuse or neglect, including training on nutrition and child 
care and individual and group therapy, and
    (b) Has entered into a written agreement with a program under which 
that person:
    (1) Acknowledges that in receiving, storing, processing or otherwise 
dealing with any patient records from the progams, it is fully bound by 
these regulations; and
    (2) If necessary, will resist in judicial proceedings any efforts to 
obtain access to patient records except as permitted by these 
regulations.
    Records means any information, whether recorded or not, relating to 
a patient received or acquired by a federally assisted alcohol or drug 
program.
    Third party payer means a person who pays, or agrees to pay, for 
diagnosis or treatment furnished to a patient on the basis of a 
contractual relationship with the patient or a member of his family or 
on the basis of the patient's eligibility for Federal, State, or local 
governmental benefits.
    Treatment means the management and care of a patient suffering from 
alcohol or drug abuse, a condition which is identified as having been 
caused by that abuse, or both, in order to reduce or eliminate the 
adverse effects upon the patient.
    Undercover agent means an officer of any Federal, State, or local 
law enforcement agency who enrolls in or becomes an employee of a 
program for the purpose of investigating a suspected violation of law or 
who pursues that purpose after enrolling or becoming employed for other 
purposes.

[52 FR 21809, June 9, 1987, as amended by 60 FR 22297, May 5, 1995]