A bill to be entitled

 An act relating to public records and meetings; amending s. 400.119, F.S.; revising the repeal date for an exemption from the public-records law for certain records relating to internal risk-management programs in nursing homes and assisted living facilities and an exemption from the public-meetings law for meetings of internal risk-management and quality-assurance committees in nursing homes and assisted living facilities; providing an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

Section 1.  Section 400.119, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
400.119  Confidentiality of records and meetings of risk management and quality assurance committees.--
(1)  Records of meetings of the risk management and quality assurance committee of a long-term care facility licensed under this part or part III of this chapter, as well as incident reports filed with the facility's risk manager and administrator, notifications of the occurrence of an adverse incident, and adverse incident reports from the facility are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. However, if the Agency for Health Care Administration has a reasonable belief that conduct by a staff member or employee of a facility is criminal activity or grounds for disciplinary action by a regulatory board, the agency may disclose such records to the appropriate law enforcement agency or regulatory board.
  (2)  Records that are confidential and exempt under subsection (1) and that are obtained by a regulatory board are not available to the public as part of the record of investigation and prosecution in a disciplinary proceeding made available to the public by the agency or the appropriate regulatory board. However, the agency or the appropriate regulatory board shall make available, upon request by a health care professional against whom probable cause has been found, any such records that form the basis of the determination of probable cause.
 (3)  Records disclosed to a law enforcement agency pursuant to subsection (1) remain confidential and exempt until criminal charges are filed.
 (4)  The meetings of an internal risk management and quality assurance committee of a long-term care facility licensed under this part or part III of this chapter are exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution and are not open to the public.
 (5)  This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall stand repealed on October 2 1, 2006, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.

Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a  law.

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                          SENATE SUMMARY
Postpones by 1 day the repeal date for an exemption from the public-records law and public-meetings law relating to internal risk-management programs in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.