disclosure clearly outweigh the potential for injury to the patient, to the physicianpatient relationship, and to the treatment services.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
(a) “Health oversight activities” shall include the oversight activities enumerated in the regulations concerning the confidentiality of individually identifiable health information promulgated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,” as amended.
(b) “Protected health information” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in the regulations concerning the confidentiality of individually identifiable health information promulgated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,” as amended.
(c) “Injury to the patient” includes injury to the privacy interests of the patient.
Sec. 3. Implementation.
(a) Protected health information concerning an individual patient discovered during the course of health oversight activities shall not be used against that individual patient in an unrelated civil, administrative, or criminal investigation of a non-health oversight matter unless the Deputy Attorney General of the U.S Department of Justice, or insofar as the protected health information involves members of the Armed Forces, the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, has authorized such use.
(b) In assessing whether protected health information should be used under subparagraph (a) of this section, the Deputy Attorney General shall permit such use upon concluding that the balance of relevant factors weighs clearly in favor of its use. That is, the Deputy Attorney General shall permit disclosure if the public interest and the need for disclosure clearly outweigh the potential for injury to the patient, to the physician-patient relationship, and to the treatment services.
(c) Upon the decision to use protected health information under subparagraph (a) of this section, the Deputy Attorney General, in determining the extent to which this information should be used, shall impose appropriate safeguards against unauthorized use.
(d) On an annual basis, the Department of Justice, in consul tation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall provide to the President of the United States a report that includes the following information:
(i) the number of requests made to the Deputy Attorney General for authorization to use protected health information discovered during health oversight activities in a non-health oversight, unrelated investigation;
(ii) the number of requests that were granted as applied for, granted as modified, or denied;
(iii) the agencies that made the applications, and the number of requests made by each agency; and
(iv) the uses for which the protected health information was authorized.
(e) The General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense will comply with the requirements of subparagraphs (b), (c), and (d), above. The General
