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The Florida Senate

2017 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII K-20 EDUCATION CODE
Chapter 1004 PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION Entire Chapter
SECTION 30
University health services support organization; confidentiality of information.
F.S. 1004.30
1004.30 University health services support organization; confidentiality of information.—
(1) All meetings of a governing board of a university health services support organization and all university health services support organization 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. Records required by the Department of Financial Services or the Office of Insurance Regulation of the Financial Services Commission to discharge their duties shall be made available to the department upon request.
(2) The following university health services support organization’s 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 under which the university health services support organization provides health care services, preferred provider organization contracts, health maintenance organization contracts, alliance network arrangements, and exclusive provider organization contracts, and any documents directly relating to the negotiation, performance, and implementation of any such contracts for managed care arrangements or alliance network arrangements. As used in this paragraph, the term “managed care” means systems or techniques generally used by third-party payors or their agents to affect access to and control payment for health care services. Managed-care techniques most often include one or more of the following: prior, concurrent, and retrospective review of the medical necessity and appropriateness of services or site of services; contracts with selected health care providers; financial incentives or disincentives related to the use of specific providers, services, or service sites; controlled access to and coordination of services by a case manager; and payor efforts to identify treatment alternatives and modify benefit restrictions for high-cost patient care.
(b) Each university health services support organization’s marketing plan the disclosure of which may reasonably be expected by the organization’s governing board to be used by a competitor or an affiliated provider of the organization to frustrate, circumvent, or exploit the purposes of the plan before it is implemented and which is not otherwise known or cannot be legally obtained by a competitor or an affiliated provider. However, documents that are submitted to the organization’s governing board as part of the board’s approval of the organization’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) The records of the peer review panels, committees, governing board, and agents of the university health services support organization which relate solely to the evaluation of health care services and professional credentials of health care providers and physicians employed by or providing services under contract to the university health services support organization. The exemptions created by this paragraph shall not be construed to impair any otherwise established rights of an individual health care provider to inspect documents concerning the determination of such provider’s professional credentials.
(3) Any portion of a governing board or peer review panel or committee meeting during which a confidential and exempt contract, document, record, marketing plan, or trade secret, as provided for in subsection (2), is discussed is exempt from the provisions of s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution.
(4) Those portions of any public record, such as a tape recording, minutes, and notes, generated during that portion of a governing board or peer review panel or committee meeting which is closed to the public pursuant to this section, which contain information relating to contracts, documents, records, marketing plans, or trade secrets which are made confidential and exempt by this section, are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
(5) The exemptions from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution and s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution provided in this section do not apply if the governing board of a university health services support organization votes to lease, sell, or transfer all or any substantial part of the facilities or property of the university health services support organization to a nonpublic entity.
(6) Any person may petition a court of competent jurisdiction for an order for the public release of those portions of any public record, such as a tape recording, minutes, or notes, generated during that portion of a governing board meeting which is closed to the public pursuant to subsection (3), which record is made confidential and exempt by subsection (4). Any action pursuant to this subsection must be brought in the county where the principal office of the university health services support organization is located, as reflected in the records of the Secretary of State. In any order for the public release of a record pursuant to this subsection, the court shall make a finding that a compelling public interest is served by the release of the record or portions thereof which exceeds the public necessity for maintaining the confidentiality of such record as described in s. 2, chapter 96-171, Laws of Florida, and that the release of the record will not cause damage to or adversely affect the interests of private persons, business entities, the university health services support organization, or the affiliated university.
(7) Those portions of any public record, such as a tape recording, minutes, or notes, generated during that portion of a governing board meeting at which negotiations for contracts for managed-care arrangements occur, are reported on, or are acted on by the governing board, which record is made confidential and exempt by subsection (4), shall become public records 2 years after the termination or completion of the term of the contract to which such negotiations relate or, if no contract was executed, 2 years after the termination of the negotiations. Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(a) and subsection (4), a university health services support organization must make available, upon request, the title and general description of a contract for managed-care arrangements, the names of the contracting parties, and the duration of the contract term. All contracts for managed-care arrangements which are made confidential and exempt by paragraph (2)(a), except those portions of any contract containing trade secrets which are made confidential and exempt by paragraph (2)(c), shall become public 2 years after the termination or completion of the term of the contract.
(8) A university health services support organization may petition a court of competent jurisdiction to continue the confidentiality of any public record made nonconfidential by this section, upon a showing of good cause. In determining good cause, the court shall balance the property, privacy, and economic interests of any affected person or business entity with those of the university health services support organization and with the public interest and must make a finding that a substantial public interest is served by the continued confidentiality of the public record for an additional time period. The length of time for this continued exemption may be no longer than is necessary to protect that substantial public interest.
(9) This act does not preclude discovery of records and information that are otherwise discoverable under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure or any statutory provision allowing discovery or presuit disclosure of such records and information for the purpose of civil actions.
History.—s. 174, ch. 2002-387; s. 1948, ch. 2003-261.