An official State of Texas website.
Revision 23-4; Effective Nov. 17, 2023
All contracting agencies must comply with the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) standards for protection of privacy.
Grantees must ensure all employees and volunteers receive training about client confidentiality during orientation and understand violation of the law regarding confidentiality may result in civil damages and criminal penalties. A health care provider’s staff (paid and unpaid) must be informed during orientation of the importance of keeping client information confidential (1 Texas Administrative Code Section 382.125(c)). All employees, volunteers, subgrantees and advisory board members must sign a confidentiality statement during orientation.
A grantee must document the client’s preferred method of follow-up for clinic services (cell phone, email, work phone or text) and preferred language in the client’s record. Each client must receive verbal assurance of confidentiality, an explanation of what confidentiality means (kept private and not shared without permission) and any applicable exceptions such as abuse reporting.
Additionally, grantees may not require consent for family planning services from the spouse of a married client (1 TAC Section 382.125).
For information specific to minors and confidentiality, refer to Responsibilities for Treatment of Minors within the Family Planning Program and Healthy Texas Women Program.