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- State Advocacy Win! Tennessee Governor Signs Test Results Bill Safeguarding Pathologists from Legal Risks
On May 6, the Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed (SB 2012/ HB 2011) into law displacing the information-blocking requirements of the federal 21st Century Cures Act for certain test results and pathology reports. The Tennessee Society of Pathology (TSP), the CAP, and the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) successfully amended the legislation to address pathologist concerns with the initial bill. The TSP and CAP worked to safeguard pathologists and laboratories from federal legal risks under the Cures Act considered to be information blocking, resulting from delays in the release of diagnostic testing results to patients.
The TSP, CAP, and the TMA amendment removed legal and operational non-compliance risk to pathologists and clinical laboratories by placing the state legal obligation of withholding certain clinical laboratory and pathology test results and reports exclusively on the entities or persons who control the electronic health record – and not the pathologist or clinical laboratory. Tennessee is the second state, after Kentucky, that has adopted the CAP position in these laws.