General acute care hospitals: patient directories.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify penalties for non-compliance or exact enforcement dates beyond July 1, 2026.

Patient Directories in Hospitals

AB-894 requires general acute care hospitals to inform patients or their representatives about the right to restrict personal health information in patient directories, starting July 1, 2026.

What This Bill Does

• Requires general acute care hospitals to inform patients or their representatives at admission or as soon as possible if they are unable to give consent themselves that they can limit who sees their information in a hospital directory.
• Needs hospitals to provide written and verbal explanations of privacy practices to patients or their representatives.

Who It Names or Affects

• General acute care hospitals in California
• Patients admitted to general acute care hospitals

Terms To Know

Protected Health Information (PHI)

Personal health information that is kept private by law.

Patient Directory

A list of patients in a hospital and some basic details about them.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what happens if hospitals do not follow the new rules.
• The bill does not change how other types of health care providers handle patient directories.

Official Summary Text

AB 894, Carrillo.
General acute care hospitals: patient directories.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate health facilities, including general acute care hospitals. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime.
Existing federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), authorizes a covered health care provider to use specified protected health information to maintain a directory of patients in its facility, and to disclose that information to persons who ask for the patient by name. Existing federal law requires a covered health care provider to inform an individual of its privacy practices generally and the use and disclosure of information in the directory and to provide the patient with the opportunity to restrict or prohibit that use or disclosure.
Existing law, the
Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, prohibits a health care provider, a contractor, or a health care service plan from disclosing medical information, as defined, but does not prevent a general acute care hospital, upon an inquiry concerning a specific patient, from releasing a patient’s name, address, age, and sex, and a general description of the reason for treatment, among other information, unless there is a specific written request by the patient to the contrary.
This bill, beginning July 1, 2026, would require a general acute care hospital to inform a patient or the patient’s representative, at the time of admission or as soon as reasonably possible in cases of patient incapacity or an emergency treatment circumstance, that the patient
or the patient’s representative may restrict or prohibit the use or disclosure of protected health information in the hospital’s patient directory and would require the hospital to provide the patient or the patient’s representative an acknowledgment of the hospital’s privacy practices by using a separate document and having hospital personnel verbally inform the patient or the patient’s representative, as specified. Because a violation of the bill’s requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and
school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF