Florida SB 1140: Residential Property Insurance Contracts

Bill Text

1140 
Patient Access to Records 
2026-01-05T12:00:55Z 
Requiring mental health service providers to furnish clinical records in accordance with specified requirements and within a specified timeframe after receiving a written request for such records; revising provisions related to the release of patient records by hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to conform to changes made by the act; requiring substance abuse service providers to furnish clinical records in accordance with specified requirements and within a specified timeframe after receiving a written request; revising the timeframe within which a nursing home facility must provide access to, and copies of, resident records after receiving a request for such records, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2027-01-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1140 

 By Senator Grall 

 29-01081-26 20261140__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to patient access to records; amending 
 3 s. 394.4615, F.S.; requiring mental health service 
 4 providers to furnish clinical records in accordance 
 5 with specified requirements and within a specified 
 6 timeframe after receiving a written request for such 
 7 records; providing construction; amending s. 395.3025, 
 8 F.S.; revising provisions related to the release of 
 9 patient records by hospitals and ambulatory surgical 
 10 centers to conform to changes made by the act; 
 11 requiring such providers to furnish patient records in 
 12 accordance with specified requirements and within a 
 13 specified timeframe after receiving a written request; 
 14 providing construction; establishing that the 
 15 Department of Health, rather than the Agency for 
 16 Health Care Administration, has the authority to issue 
 17 subpoenas for patient records from hospitals and 
 18 ambulatory surgical centers in certain circumstances; 
 19 amending s. 397.501, F.S.; requiring substance abuse 
 20 service providers to furnish clinical records in 
 21 accordance with specified requirements and within a 
 22 specified timeframe after receiving a written request; 
 23 providing construction; amending s. 400.145, F.S.; 
 24 revising the timeframe within which a nursing home 
 25 facility must provide access to, and copies of, 
 26 resident records after receiving a request for such 
 27 records; creating s. 408.833, F.S.; defining terms; 
 28 requiring licensed providers to furnish and provide 
 29 access to client records within specified timeframes 
 30 after receiving a written request from a client or the 
 31 client’s legal representative; requiring providers to 
 32 furnish the client’s protected health information in 
 33 the form and format chosen by the requester, if 
 34 readily producible, or, if not readily producible, in 
 35 another mutually agreeable readable form; providing 
 36 exceptions for providers governed by other specified 
 37 provisions; amending s. 456.057, F.S.; defining the 
 38 terms “designated record set” and “legal 
 39 representative”; requiring health care practitioners 
 40 to furnish and provide access to patient records 
 41 within specified timeframes after receiving a written 
 42 request from a patient or the patient’s legal 
 43 representative; requiring health care practitioners to 
 44 furnish records in the form and format chosen by the 
 45 requester, if readily producible, or, if not readily 
 46 producible, in another mutually agreeable readable 
 47 form; amending ss. 316.1932, 316.1933, 395.4025, 
 48 397.702, 429.294, 440.185, and 456.47, F.S.; 
 49 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 
 50 providing an effective date. 
 51 
 52 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 53 
 54 Section 1. Present subsections (3) through (12) of section 
 55 394.4615, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (4) 
 56 through (13), respectively, a new subsection (3) is added to 
 57 that section, and paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (2) 
 58 of that section are republished, to read: 
 59 394.4615 Clinical records; confidentiality.— 
 60 (2) The clinical record shall be released when: 
 61 (a) The patient or the patient’s guardian or legal 
 62 custodian authorizes the release. The guardian, guardian 
 63 advocate, or legal custodian shall be provided access to the 
 64 appropriate clinical records of the patient. The patient or the 
 65 patient’s guardian, guardian advocate, or legal custodian may 
 66 authorize the release of information and clinical records to 
 67 appropriate persons to ensure the continuity of the patient’s 
 68 health care or mental health care. A receiving facility must 
 69 document that, within 24 hours of admission, individuals 
 70 admitted on a voluntary basis have been provided with the option 
 71 to authorize the release of information from their clinical 
 72 record to the individual’s health care surrogate or proxy, 
 73 attorney, representative, or other known emergency contact