Page 242

Sec. 47.30.585. Telehealth. (a) An entity designated by the department under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 may provide community mental health services authorized under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 through telehealth to a patient in this state. (b) If an individual employed by an entity designated by the department under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620, in the course of a telehealth encounter with a patient, determines that some or all of the encounter will extend beyond the community mental health services authorized under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620, the individual shall advise the patient that the entity is not authorized to provide some or all of the services to the patient, recommend that the patient contact an appropriate provider for the services the entity is not authorized to provide, and limit the encounter to only those services the entity is authorized to provide. The entity may not charge a patient for any portion of an encounter that extends beyond the community mental health services authorized under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620. (c) A fee for a service provided through telehealth under this section must be reasonable and consistent with the ordinary fee typically charged for that service and may not exceed the fee typically charged for that service. (d) An entity permitted to provide telehealth under this section may not be required to document a barrier to an in-person visit to provide health care services through telehealth. The department may not limit the physical setting from which an entity may provide health care services through telehealth. (e) Nothing in this section requires the use of telehealth when an individual employed by an entity designated by the department under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 determines that providing services through telehealth is not appropriate or when a patient chooses not to receive services through telehealth. (f) In this section, “telehealth” has the meaning given in AS 47.05.270(e). Sec. 47.30.590. Patient rights and the confidential nature of records and information. (a) The department shall adopt regulations to assure patient rights and to safeguard the confidential nature of records and information about the recipients of services provided under this chapter. The regulations must require that entities identified in AS 47.30.540(b) develop and include in any plan submitted for approval adequate provisions for safeguarding confidential information. The regulations must provide for disclosure of confidential information to parents or guardians, to mental health professionals providing services to a recipient, and to other appropriate service agencies when it is in the defined best interests of the patient. (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the department is authorized to review, obtain, and copy confidential and other records and information about the clients of services requested or furnished under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 to evaluate compliance with those statutes. The department may obtain the records and information regarding clients from the client or directly from an entity designated by the department under AS 47.30.520 — 47.30.620 that furnished those services. Records obtained by the department under this subsection are medical records, shall be handled confidentially, and are exempt from public inspection and copying under AS 40.25.110 — 40.25.120.