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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>60253</law_id><section_number>2.2-3705.5</section_number><catch_line>Exclusions to application of chapter; health and social services records</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>2.2-3806</reference><reference>22.1-289.013</reference><reference>32.1-283.1</reference><reference>32.1-283.2</reference><reference>32.1-283.3</reference><reference>32.1-283.5</reference><reference>32.1-283.6</reference><reference>32.1-283.7</reference><reference>32.1-283.8</reference><reference>32.1-321.01</reference><reference>37.2-314.1</reference><reference>54.1-2517</reference><reference>54.1-2523</reference><reference>63.2-1702</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="2.2">Administration of Government</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="II">Administration of State Government</unit><unit label="part" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="B">Transaction of Public Business</unit><unit label="chapter" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="37">Virginia Freedom of Information Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>The following information contained in a public record is excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of this chapter but may be disclosed by the custodian in his discretion, except where such disclosure is prohibited by <span class="dictionary">law</span>. Redaction of information excluded under this section from a public record shall be conducted in accordance with &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Records containing both excluded and nonexcluded information; duty to redact" href="/2.2-3704.01/">2.2-3704.01</a>.</p></section>
						<section id="1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Health records, except that such records may be personally reviewed by the individual who is the subject of such records, as provided in subsection F of &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Health records privacy" href="/32.1-127.1_03/">32.1-127.1:03</a>.
			Where the person who is the subject of health records is confined in a state or local correctional facility, the administrator or chief medical officer of such facility may assert such confined person&#x2019;s right of access to the health records if the administrator or chief medical officer has reasonable cause to believe that such confined person has an infectious disease or other medical condition from which other persons so confined need to be protected. Health records shall only be reviewed and shall not be copied by such administrator or chief medical officer. The information in the health records of a person so confined shall continue to be confidential and shall not be disclosed by the administrator or chief medical officer of the facility to any person except the subject or except as provided by <span class="dictionary">law</span>.
			Where the person who is the subject of health records is under the age of 18, his right of access may be asserted only by his guardian or his parent, including a noncustodial parent, unless such parent&#x2019;s parental rights have been terminated, a <span class="dictionary">court</span> of competent <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> has restricted or denied such access, or a parent has been denied access to the health record in accordance with &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Access to minor's records" href="/20-124.6/">20-124.6</a>. In instances where the person who is the subject thereof is an emancipated <span class="dictionary">minor</span>, a student in a public institution of higher education, or is a <span class="dictionary">minor</span> who has consented to his own treatment as authorized by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Parental admission of minors younger than 14 and nonobjecting minors 14 years of age or older" href="/16.1-338/">16.1-338</a> or <a class="law" title="Authority to consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors" href="/54.1-2969/">54.1-2969</a>, the right of access may be asserted by the subject person.
			For the purposes of this chapter, statistical summaries of incidents and statistical data concerning abuse of individuals receiving services compiled by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services shall be disclosed. No such summaries or data shall include any information that identifies specific individuals receiving services. <a id="paragraph-220359" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="2"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Applications for admission to examinations or for licensure and scoring records maintained by the Department of Health Professions or any board in that department on individual licensees or applicants; information required to be provided to the Department of Health Professions by certain licensees pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Submission of required information" href="/54.1-2506.1/">54.1-2506.1</a>; information held by the Health Practitioners&#x2019; Monitoring Program Committee within the Department of Health Professions that identifies any practitioner who may be, or who is actually, impaired to the extent that disclosure is prohibited by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Health Practitioners' Monitoring Program Committee; certain meetings, decisions to be excepted from the Freedom of Information Act; confidentiality of records; immunity from liability" href="/54.1-2517/">54.1-2517</a>; and information relating to the prescribing and dispensing of covered substances to recipients and any abstracts from such information that are in the <span class="dictionary">possession</span> of the Prescription Monitoring Program (Program) pursuant to Chapter 25.2 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/54.1-2519/">54.1-2519</a> et seq.) of Title 54.1 and any <span class="dictionary">material</span> relating to the operation or security of the Program. <a id="paragraph-220360" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="3"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> Reports, documentary <span class="dictionary">evidence</span>, and other information as specified in &#xA7;&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Confidential records and information concerning adult services and adult protective services; penalty" href="/51.5-122/">51.5-122</a> and <a class="law" title="Confidentiality of records of Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman" href="/51.5-184/">51.5-184</a> and Chapter 1 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/63.2-100/">63.2-100</a> et seq.) of Title 63.2 and information and statistical registries required to be kept confidential pursuant to Chapter 1 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/63.2-100/">63.2-100</a> et seq.) of Title 63.2. <a id="paragraph-220361" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="4"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> Investigative notes; proprietary information not published, copyrighted or patented; information obtained from employee personnel records; personally identifiable information regarding residents, clients or other recipients of services; other correspondence and information furnished in confidence to the Department of Education in connection with an active investigation of an applicant or licensee pursuant to Chapter 14.1 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/22.1-289.02/">22.1-289.02</a> et seq.) of Title 22.1; other correspondence and information furnished in confidence to the Department of Social Services in connection with an active investigation of an applicant or licensee pursuant to Chapters 17 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Application fees; regulations and schedules; use of fees; certain facilities, centers, and agencies exempt" href="/63.2-1700/">63.2-1700</a> et seq.) and 18 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Licensure requirements" href="/63.2-1800/">63.2-1800</a> et seq.) of Title 63.2; and information furnished to the Office of the <span class="dictionary">Attorney General</span> in connection with an investigation or <span class="dictionary">litigation</span> pursuant to Article 19.1 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Citation" href="/8.01-216.1/">8.01-216.1</a> et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 8.01 and Chapter 9 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Declaration of purpose; authority to audit records; authority to review complaints of abuse or neglect" href="/32.1-310/">32.1-310</a> et seq.) of Title 32.1. However, nothing in this subdivision shall prevent the disclosure of information from the records of completed investigations in a form that does not reveal the identity of complainants, persons supplying information, or other individuals involved in the investigation. <a id="paragraph-220362" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="5"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> Information collected for the designation and verification of trauma centers and other specialty care centers within the Statewide <span class="dictionary">Emergency</span> Medical Services System and Services pursuant to Article 2.1 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/32.1-111.1/">32.1-111.1</a> et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 32.1. <a id="paragraph-220363" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="6"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> Reports and <span class="dictionary">court</span> documents relating to involuntary admission required to be kept confidential pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Commitment hearing for involuntary admission; recordings and records" href="/37.2-818/">37.2-818</a>. <a id="paragraph-220364" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="7"><p><span class="prefix-number">7.</span> Information acquired (i) during a review of any child death conducted by the State Child Fatality Review Team established pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="State Child Fatality Review Team; membership; access to and maintenance of records; confidentiality; etc" href="/32.1-283.1/">32.1-283.1</a> or by a local or regional child fatality review team to the extent that such information is made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Local and regional child fatality review teams established; membership; authority; confidentiality; immunity" href="/32.1-283.2/">32.1-283.2</a>; (ii) during a review of any death conducted by a family violence fatality review team to the extent that such information is made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Family violence fatality review teams established; model protocol and data management; membership; authority; confidentiality, etc" href="/32.1-283.3/">32.1-283.3</a>; (iii) during a review of any adult death conducted by the Adult Fatality Review Team to the extent made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Adult Fatality Review Team; duties; membership; confidentiality; penalties; report; etc" href="/32.1-283.5/">32.1-283.5</a> or by a local or regional adult fatality review team to the extent that such information is made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Local and regional adult fatality review teams established; membership; authority; confidentiality; immunity" href="/32.1-283.6/">32.1-283.6</a>; (iv) by a local or regional overdose fatality review team to the extent that such information is made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Local and regional overdose fatality review teams established; membership; authority; confidentiality; immunity" href="/32.1-283.7/">32.1-283.7</a>; (v) during a review of any death conducted by the Maternal Mortality Review Team to the extent that such information is made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Maternal Mortality Review Team; duties; membership; confidentiality; penalties; report; etc" href="/32.1-283.8/">32.1-283.8</a>; or (vi) during a review of any death conducted by the Developmental Disabilities Mortality Review Committee to the extent that such information is made confidential by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Developmental Disabilities Mortality Review Committee; duties; membership; confidentiality; report; penalty" href="/37.2-314.1/">37.2-314.1</a>. <a id="paragraph-220365" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#7"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="8"><p><span class="prefix-number">8.</span> Patient level data collected by the Board of Health and not yet processed, verified, and released, pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Confidentiality, subsequent release of data and relief from liability for reporting; penalty for wrongful disclosure; individual action for damages" href="/32.1-276.9/">32.1-276.9</a>, to the Board by the nonprofit organization with which the Commissioner of Health has contracted pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Agreements for certain data services" href="/32.1-276.4/">32.1-276.4</a>. <a id="paragraph-220366" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#8"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="9"><p><span class="prefix-number">9.</span> Information relating to a grant application, or accompanying a grant application, submitted to the Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative Advisory Board pursuant to Article 12 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/51.5-178/">51.5-178</a> et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 51.5 that would (i) reveal (a) medical or mental health records or other data identifying individual patients or (b) proprietary business or research-related information produced or collected by the applicant in the conduct of or as a result of study or research on medical, rehabilitative, scientific, technical, or scholarly <span class="dictionary">issues</span>, when such information has not been publicly released, published, copyrighted, or patented, and (ii) be harmful to the competitive position of the applicant. <a id="paragraph-220367" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#9"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="10"><p><span class="prefix-number">10.</span> Any information copied, recorded, or received by the Commissioner of Health in the course of an examination, investigation, or review of a managed care health insurance plan licensee pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Examination, review or investigation" href="/32.1-137.4/">32.1-137.4</a> and <a class="law" title="Civil penalties; probation; suspension; restriction or prohibition of new enrollments to managed care health insurance plan licensee; revocation or nonrenewal of certificate of quality assurance; appeal process; correction" href="/32.1-137.5/">32.1-137.5</a>, including books, records, files, accounts, papers, documents, and any or all computer or other recordings. <a id="paragraph-220368" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#10"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="11"><p><span class="prefix-number">11.</span> Records of the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program required to be kept confidential pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Confidentiality of certain information; penalty" href="/38.2-5002.2/">38.2-5002.2</a>. <a id="paragraph-220369" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#11"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="12"><p><span class="prefix-number">12.</span> Information held by the State Health Commissioner relating to the health of any person subject to an <span class="dictionary">order</span> of quarantine or an <span class="dictionary">order</span> of isolation pursuant to Article 3.02 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Application of article; determination of exceptional circumstances; regulations; duties of the State Health Commissioner not be delegated" href="/32.1-48.05/">32.1-48.05</a> et seq.) of Chapter 2 of Title 32.1. However, nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the disclosure of statistical summaries, abstracts, or other information in aggregate form. <a id="paragraph-220370" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#12"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="13"><p><span class="prefix-number">13.</span> The names and addresses or other contact information of persons receiving transportation services from a state or local <span class="dictionary">public body</span> or its designee under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, (42 U.S.C. &#xA7; 12131 et seq.) or funded by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) created under &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); purpose; administration" href="/63.2-600/">63.2-600</a>. <a id="paragraph-220371" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#13"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="14"><p><span class="prefix-number">14.</span> Information held by certain health care committees and entities that may be withheld from <span class="dictionary">discovery</span> as privileged communications pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Privileged communications of certain committees and entities" href="/8.01-581.17/">8.01-581.17</a>. <a id="paragraph-220372" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#14"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="15"><p><span class="prefix-number">15.</span> Data and information specified in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Commitment hearings for involuntary admissions; data sharing" href="/37.2-308.01/">37.2-308.01</a> relating to proceedings provided for in Article 16 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Short title" href="/16.1-335/">16.1-335</a> et seq.) of Chapter 11 of Title 16.1 and Chapter 8 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="(Effective July 1, 2026). Applicability of chapter" href="/37.2-800/">37.2-800</a> et seq.) of Title 37.2. <a id="paragraph-220373" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#15"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="16"><p><span class="prefix-number">16.</span> Records of and information held by the Smartchart Network Program required to be kept confidential pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Smartchart Network Program established; purpose" href="/32.1-372/">32.1-372</a>. <a id="paragraph-220374" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#16"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="17"><p><span class="prefix-number">17.</span> Information submitted to the acute psychiatric bed registry pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Acute psychiatric bed registry" href="/37.2-308.1/">37.2-308.1</a>. <a id="paragraph-220375" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/2.2-3705.5/#17"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1999, cc. 485, 518, 703, 726, 793, 849, 852, 867, 868, 881, &#xA7; 2.1-342.01; 2000, cc. 66, 237, 382, 400, 430, 583, 589, 592, 594, 618, 632, 657, 720, 932, 933, 947, 1006, 1064; 2001, cc. 288, 518, 844, &#xA7; 2.2-3705; 2002, cc. 87, 155, 242, 393, 478, 481, 499, 522, 571, 572, 633, 655, 715, 798, 830; 2003, cc. 274, 307, 327, 332, 358, 704, 801, 884, 891, 893, 897, 968; 2004, cc. 65, 666, 690, 773, 1014, 1021; 2005, cc. 181, 227, 716; 2008, c. 539; 2009, cc. 472, 813, 840; 2011, cc. 110, 175, 535; 2012, cc. 476, 479, 507, 803, 835; 2015, cc. 22, 108, 127; 2016, cc. 620, 716; 2017, cc. 188, 475, 600, 719, 778; 2018, c. 600; 2019, c. 834; 2020, cc. 851, 860, 861; 2023, cc. 628, 629; 2025, cc. 149, 156.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
