Bill Text: IL SB0892 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Provides that the Department of Human Services may release information received by the central repository to select representatives of the Department of Children and Family Services through the indirect online request process. Provides that access shall be established by the Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee by rule.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB0892 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SB0892-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Controlled Substances Act is
amended by changing Section 318 as follows:
(720 ILCS 570/318)
Sec. 318. Confidentiality of information.
(a) Information received by the central repository under
Section 316 and former Section 321 is confidential.
(b) The Department must carry out a program to protect the
confidentiality of the information described in subsection
(a). The Department may disclose the information to another
person only under subsection (c), (d), or (f) and may charge a
fee not to exceed the actual cost of furnishing the
information.
(c) The Department may disclose confidential information
described in subsection (a) to any person who is engaged in
receiving, processing, or storing the information.
(d) The Department may release confidential information
described in subsection (a) to the following persons:
(1) A governing body that licenses practitioners and is
engaged in an investigation, an adjudication, or a
prosecution of a violation under any State or federal law

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that involves a controlled substance.
(2) An investigator for the Consumer Protection
Division of the office of the Attorney General, a
prosecuting attorney, the Attorney General, a deputy
Attorney General, or an investigator from the office of the
Attorney General, who is engaged in any of the following
activities involving controlled substances:
(A) an investigation;
(B) an adjudication; or
(C) a prosecution of a violation under any State or
federal law that involves a controlled substance.
(3) A law enforcement officer who is:
(A) authorized by the Illinois State Police or the
office of a county sheriff or State's Attorney or
municipal police department of Illinois to receive
information of the type requested for the purpose of
investigations involving controlled substances; or
(B) approved by the Department to receive
information of the type requested for the purpose of
investigations involving controlled substances; and
(C) engaged in the investigation or prosecution of
a violation under any State or federal law that
involves a controlled substance.
(4) Select representatives of the Department of
Children and Family Services through the indirect online
request process. Access shall be established by an

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intergovernmental agreement between the Department of
Children and Family Services and the Department of Human
Services.
(e) Before the Department releases confidential
information under subsection (d), the applicant must
demonstrate in writing to the Department that:
(1) the applicant has reason to believe that a
violation under any State or federal law that involves a
controlled substance has occurred; and
(2) the requested information is reasonably related to
the investigation, adjudication, or prosecution of the
violation described in subdivision (1).
(f) The Department may receive and release prescription
record information under Section 316 and former Section 321 to:
(1) a governing body that licenses practitioners;
(2) an investigator for the Consumer Protection
Division of the office of the Attorney General, a
prosecuting attorney, the Attorney General, a deputy
Attorney General, or an investigator from the office of the
Attorney General;
(3) any Illinois law enforcement officer who is:
(A) authorized to receive the type of information
released; and
(B) approved by the Department to receive the type
of information released; or
(4) prescription monitoring entities in other states

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per the provisions outlined in subsection (g) and (h)
below;
confidential prescription record information collected under
Sections 316 and 321 (now repealed) that identifies vendors or
practitioners, or both, who are prescribing or dispensing large
quantities of Schedule II, III, IV, or V controlled substances
outside the scope of their practice, pharmacy, or business, as
determined by the Advisory Committee created by Section 320.
(g) The information described in subsection (f) may not be
released until it has been reviewed by an employee of the
Department who is licensed as a prescriber or a dispenser and
until that employee has certified that further investigation is
warranted. However, failure to comply with this subsection (g)
does not invalidate the use of any evidence that is otherwise
admissible in a proceeding described in subsection (h).
(h) An investigator or a law enforcement officer receiving
confidential information under subsection (c), (d), or (f) may
disclose the information to a law enforcement officer or an
attorney for the office of the Attorney General for use as
evidence in the following:
(1) A proceeding under any State or federal law that
involves a controlled substance.
(2) A criminal proceeding or a proceeding in juvenile
court that involves a controlled substance.
(i) The Department may compile statistical reports from the
information described in subsection (a). The reports must not

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include information that identifies, by name, license or
address, any practitioner, dispenser, ultimate user, or other
person administering a controlled substance.
(j) Based upon federal, initial and maintenance funding, a
prescriber and dispenser inquiry system shall be developed to
assist the health care community in its goal of effective
clinical practice and to prevent patients from diverting or
abusing medications.
(1) An inquirer shall have read-only access to a
stand-alone database which shall contain records for the
previous 12 months.
(2) Dispensers may, upon positive and secure
identification, make an inquiry on a patient or customer
solely for a medical purpose as delineated within the
federal HIPAA law.
(3) The Department shall provide a one-to-one secure
link and encrypted software necessary to establish the link
between an inquirer and the Department. Technical
assistance shall also be provided.
(4) Written inquiries are acceptable but must include
the fee and the requestor's Drug Enforcement
Administration license number and submitted upon the
requestor's business stationery.
(5) As directed by the Prescription Monitoring Program
Advisory Committee and the Clinical Director for the
Prescription Monitoring Program, aggregate data that does

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not indicate any prescriber, practitioner, dispenser, or
patient may be used for clinical studies.
(6) Tracking analysis shall be established and used per
administrative rule.
(7) Nothing in this Act or Illinois law shall be
construed to require a prescriber or dispenser to make use
of this inquiry system.
(8) If there is an adverse outcome because of a
prescriber or dispenser making an inquiry, which is
initiated in good faith, the prescriber or dispenser shall
be held harmless from any civil liability.
(k) The Department shall establish, by rule, the process by
which to evaluate possible erroneous association of
prescriptions to any licensed prescriber or end user of the
Illinois Prescription Information Library (PIL).
(l) The Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee
is authorized to evaluate the need for and method of
establishing a patient specific identifier.
(m) Patients who identify prescriptions attributed to them
that were not obtained by them shall be given access to their
personal prescription history pursuant to the validation
process as set forth by administrative rule.
(n) The Prescription Monitoring Program is authorized to
develop operational push reports to entities with compatible
electronic medical records. The process shall be covered within
administrative rule established by the Department.

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(o) Hospital emergency departments and freestanding
healthcare facilities providing healthcare to walk-in patients
may obtain, for the purpose of improving patient care, a unique
identifier for each shift to utilize the PIL system.
(p) The Prescription Monitoring Program shall
automatically create a log-in to the inquiry system when a
prescriber or dispenser obtains or renews his or her controlled
substance license. The Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation must provide the Prescription
Monitoring Program with electronic access to the license
information of a prescriber or dispenser to facilitate the
creation of this profile. The Prescription Monitoring Program
shall send the prescriber or dispenser information regarding
the inquiry system, including instructions on how to log into
the system, instructions on how to use the system to promote
effective clinical practice, and opportunities for continuing
education for the prescribing of controlled substances. The
Prescription Monitoring Program shall also send to all enrolled
prescribers, dispensers, and designees information regarding
the unsolicited reports produced pursuant to Section 314.5 of
this Act.
(q) A prescriber or dispenser may authorize a designee to
consult the inquiry system established by the Department under
this subsection on his or her behalf, provided that all the
following conditions are met:
(1) the designee so authorized is employed by the same

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hospital or health care system; is employed by the same
professional practice; or is under contract with such
practice, hospital, or health care system;
(2) the prescriber or dispenser takes reasonable steps
to ensure that such designee is sufficiently competent in
the use of the inquiry system;
(3) the prescriber or dispenser remains responsible
for ensuring that access to the inquiry system by the
designee is limited to authorized purposes and occurs in a
manner that protects the confidentiality of the
information obtained from the inquiry system, and remains
responsible for any breach of confidentiality; and
(4) the ultimate decision as to whether or not to
prescribe or dispense a controlled substance remains with
the prescriber or dispenser.
The Prescription Monitoring Program shall send to
registered designees information regarding the inquiry system,
including instructions on how to log onto the system.
(r) The Prescription Monitoring Program shall maintain an
Internet website in conjunction with its prescriber and
dispenser inquiry system. This website shall include, at a
minimum, the following information:
(1) current clinical guidelines developed by health
care professional organizations on the prescribing of
opioids or other controlled substances as determined by the
Advisory Committee;

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(2) accredited continuing education programs related
to prescribing of controlled substances;
(3) programs or information developed by health care
professionals that may be used to assess patients or help
ensure compliance with prescriptions;
(4) updates from the Food and Drug Administration, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other
public and private organizations which are relevant to
prescribing;
(5) relevant medical studies related to prescribing;
(6) other information regarding the prescription of
controlled substances; and
(7) information regarding prescription drug disposal
events, including take-back programs or other disposal
options or events.
The content of the Internet website shall be periodically
reviewed by the Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory
Committee as set forth in Section 320 and updated in accordance
with the recommendation of the advisory committee.
(s) The Prescription Monitoring Program shall regularly
send electronic updates to the registered users of the Program.
The Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee shall
review any communications sent to registered users and also
make recommendations for communications as set forth in Section
320. These updates shall include the following information:
(1) opportunities for accredited continuing education

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programs related to prescribing of controlled substances;
(2) current clinical guidelines developed by health
care professional organizations on the prescribing of
opioids or other drugs as determined by the Advisory
Committee;
(3) programs or information developed by health care
professionals that may be used to assess patients or help
ensure compliance with prescriptions;
(4) updates from the Food and Drug Administration, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other
public and private organizations which are relevant to
prescribing;
(5) relevant medical studies related to prescribing;
(6) other information regarding prescribing of
controlled substances;
(7) information regarding prescription drug disposal
events, including take-back programs or other disposal
options or events; and
(8) reminders that the Prescription Monitoring Program
is a useful clinical tool.
(Source: P.A. 99-480, eff. 9-9-15.)