The Florida Senate

395.3035  Confidentiality of public hospital records and meetings.--

(1)  All meetings of a governing board of a public hospital and all public hospital records shall be open and available to the public in accordance with s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution and chapter 119 and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution, respectively, unless made confidential or exempt by law.

(2)  The following public hospital records and information are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution:

(a)  Contracts for managed care arrangements, as managed care is defined in s. 408.701, under which the public hospital provides health care services, including preferred provider organization contracts, health maintenance organization contracts, exclusive provider organization contracts, and alliance network arrangements, and any documents directly relating to the negotiation, performance, and implementation of any such contracts for managed care or alliance network arrangements.

(b)  A public hospital's strategic plans, including plans for marketing its services, which services are or may reasonably be expected by the hospital's governing board to be provided by competitors of the hospital. However, documents that are submitted to the hospital's governing board as part of the board's approval of the hospital's budget, and the budget itself, are not confidential and exempt.

(c)  Trade secrets, as defined in s. 688.002, including reimbursement methodologies and rates.

(d)  Documents, offers, and contracts, not including contracts for managed care, that are the product of negotiations with nongovernmental entities for the payment for services when such negotiations concern services that are or may reasonably be expected by the hospital's governing board to be provided by competitors of the hospital. If the governing board is required to vote on the documents, offers, or contracts, this exemption expires 30 days prior to the date of the meeting at which the hospital's governing board is scheduled to take the vote.

(3)  Those portions of a governing board meeting at which negotiations for contracts with nongovernmental entities occur or are reported on when such negotiations or reports concern services that are or may reasonably be expected by the hospital's governing board to be provided by competitors of the hospital are exempt from the provisions of s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. All governing board meetings at which the board is scheduled to vote to accept, reject, or amend contracts, except managed care contracts, shall be open to the public. All portions of any board meeting which are closed to the public shall be recorded by a certified court reporter. The reporter shall record the times of commencement and termination of the meeting, all discussion and proceedings, the names of all persons present at any time, and the names of all persons speaking. No portion of the meeting shall be off the record. The court reporter's notes shall be fully transcribed and maintained by the hospital records custodian within a reasonable time after the meeting. The transcript shall become public 1 year after the termination or completion of the term of the contract to which such negotiations relate or, if no contract was executed, 1 year after termination of the negotiations.

(4)  Those portions of a board meeting at which the written strategic plans, including written plans for marketing its services, are discussed or reported on are exempt from the provisions of s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. All portions of any board meeting which are closed to the public shall be recorded by a certified court reporter. The reporter shall record the times of commencement and termination of the meeting, all discussion and proceedings, the names of all persons present at any time, and the names of all persons speaking. No portion of the meeting shall be off the record. The court reporter's notes shall be fully transcribed and maintained by the hospital records custodian within a reasonable time after the meeting. The transcript shall become public 3 years after the date of the board meeting.

(5)  Any public records, such as tape recordings, minutes, and notes, generated at any governing board meeting or portion of a governing board meeting which is closed to the public pursuant to this section are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. All such records shall be retained and shall cease to be exempt at the same time as the transcript of the meeting becomes available to the public.

(6)

(a)  No less than once every 3 months, the hospital shall report in writing to the governing board on the number of records for which a public records request has been made and the records have been declared to be confidential under the provisions of this section. For each such record, the hospital shall provide the governing board with a general description of the record, the date on which the record became confidential, whether the public will have access to the record at a future time, and, if so, on what date the public will be granted access to such record. The hospital shall also report in writing to the governing board each record that had been confidential to which the public has been granted access since the hospital's last report to the board. For each such record to which the public now has access, the hospital shall give a general description of the record and the date on which the record became confidential. The governing board of the hospital shall retain copies of these reports for 5 years from the date on which the report was made to the governing board of the hospital. If the governing board of a public hospital is comprised of members who are appointed, the board shall transmit each report to the official or authority that appoints the members to the governing board within 10 working days after the date on which the governing board received the report from the hospital.

(b)  The governing board of the hospital shall maintain a written list of the meetings or portions of meetings that were closed under the provisions of this section. For each such meeting or portion of meeting, the governing board shall list the date on which the meeting was closed, the approximate length of time the meeting was closed, a general description of the subject of the meeting, the titles of the meeting participants, and a description of the format of the meeting. The governing board may purge information about a meeting from this list 5 years after the date on which the meeting was closed. If the governing board of a public hospital is comprised of members who are appointed, the board shall transmit the list required by this paragraph to the official or authority that appoints the members to the governing board no less than once every 3 months.

History.--s. 3, ch. 91-219; s. 2, ch. 93-87; s. 1, ch. 95-199; s. 217, ch. 96-406.

Note.--Former s. 119.16.