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- Tennessee Legislature Passes CAP Recommendation on Reporting Test Results
On April 22, the Tennessee legislature passed legislation (SB 2012/ HB 2011) 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 new law places exclusive responsibility on “designated entities,” for any delay in certain pathology reports and test results to be withheld for 72-hours before patients can access the result in the electronic health record. Under Tennessee law, “Designated entities” is defined as “an entity that performs actions or functions on behalf of the provider, payer or patient for the purposes of creating an electronic health record.”
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. The bill is now pending consideration by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R). If enacted, Tennessee would be the second state, following Kentucky, that has adopted the CAP position in the context of these laws.