[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 42, Volume 1]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

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



[[Page 11]]



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]