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An Act To Specify the Record-keeping Requirements for Social Workers
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  32 MRSA §7006  is enacted to read:
§ 7006. Record-keeping requirements
 
1.  Record-keeping requirements.     A person licensed under this chapter shall:
 
A.  Retain all client records for a period of 7 years from the date of the client's last visit, except that records for minors must be retained for 7 years following the date the client reaches the age of majority and records of deceased clients must be retained for a period of 3 years from the date of the client's death; and
 
B.  Maintain all client records in accordance with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
 
2.  Destruction of records.     Upon the applicable date of maturity under subsection 1, the person licensed under this chapter shall dispose of all client paper records through the use of an onsite shredding system and dispose of all electronic client records electronically.
 
3.  Discontinuance of practice.     In the event a person licensed under this chapter discontinues practice as a result of a loss of licensure, death, disability or retirement, the person licensed under this chapter or an individual designated under subsection 5 shall provide public notice of the discontinuance of the practice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the person licensed under this chapter practices at least 2 times within a period of 2 weeks from the date the person licensed under this chapter discontinues the practice. In addition, a notification letter must be sent to all clients who have been treated by the person licensed under this chapter within 3 years preceding the date of the discontinuance of the practice. Medical records of all clients must be retained for at least 60 days following the notice provisions under this section. For purposes of this section, "medical records" includes information about the client submitted to the person licensed under this chapter that is sufficient to justify any diagnosis and treatment rendered by the person licensed under this chapter, dates of treatment, actions taken by a nonlicensed persons when authorized by the person licensed under this chapter, a mental health provider's orders, a health care practitioner's notes, charts and any other diagnostic data.
 
4.  Client litigation.     In the event a client is involved in litigation, no client records may be destroyed until the matter is resolved by the court.
 
5.  Transfer of client records.     A person licensed under this chapter shall submit a plan to the board every 2 years as part of the license renewal process in section 7060 that describes the designated party that will be responsible for the person licensed under this chapter's client records under this section in the event of the person licensed under this chapter's death, disability or transfer out of state.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing social workers by adding new client record-keeping requirements for persons licensed as social workers by the State as well as public and client notice requirements in the event a person licensed by the State discontinues practice.