                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXCHANGE OF MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION AND RECORDS (§ 53.1-40.10)

A. Whenever a person is committed to a state correctional facility, the
following shall be entitled to obtain medical and mental health information and
records concerning such person from a health care provider, even when such
person does not provide consent or consent is not readily obtainable:

   1. The person in charge of the facility, or his designee, when such
   information and records are necessary (i) for the provision of health care to
   the person committed, (ii) to protect the health and safety of the person
   committed or other residents or staff of the facility, or (iii) to maintain
   the security and safety of the facility. Such information and records may be
   exchanged among administrative personnel for the facility in which the person
   is imprisoned as necessary to maintain the security and safety of the
   facility, its employees, or other prisoners. The information exchanged shall
   continue to be confidential and disclosure shall be limited to that necessary
   to ensure the security and safety of the facility.

   2. Members of the Parole Board, as specified in &#xA7; 53.1-138, in order to
   conduct the investigation required under &#xA7; 53.1-155.

   3. Probation and parole officers for use in parole and probation planning,
   release, and supervision.

   4. Officials within the Department for the purpose of formulating
   recommendations for treatment and rehabilitative programs; classification,
   security and work assignments; and determining the necessity for medical,
   dental, and mental health care, treatment, and programs.

   5. Medical and mental health hospitals and facilities, both public and
   private, including community services boards, for use in planning for and
   supervision of post-incarceration medical and mental health care, treatment,
   and programs.

   6. The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of
   Medical Assistance Services, the Department of Social Services, and any local
   department of social services in the Commonwealth for the purposes of
   providing pre-release services, reentry planning, and post-incarceration
   placement and services.

B. Substance abuse records subject to federal regulations, Confidentiality of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records, 42 C.F.R. &#xA7; 2.11 et seq., shall not
be subject to the provisions of this section. The disclosure of results of a
test for human immunodeficiency virus shall not be permitted except as provided
in &#xA7; 32.1-36.1.

C. The release of medical and mental health information and records to any other
agency or individual shall be subject to all regulations promulgated by the
Department that govern confidentiality of such records. Medical and mental
health information concerning a prisoner that has been exchanged pursuant to
this section may be used only as provided herein and shall otherwise remain
confidential and protected from disclosure.

D. The Department shall develop policies to improve the exchange of medical and
mental health information and records of persons committed to a state
correctional facility, including policies to improve access to electronic health
records and electronic exchange of information and records for the provision of
telemedicine and telepsychiatry.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 597; 2013, cc. 164, 235; 2018, c. 165; 2019, cc. 202, 827;
2025, cc. 316, 317.