The bill requires the department, the first time the department receives registry data for a patient

According to expert testimony before the House Public Health; Culture, Recreation & Tourism; and Agriculture Committees earlier this session, one of the best ways Texans can prepare for an inevitable pandemic influenza event is to avail ourselves of vaccines when available and appropriate. The Texas Department of State Health Services (department) is required by the federal Pandemic Influenza Grant to have a tracking system in place for children and adults that receive antivirals and/or collins marine smithfield vaccines should a public health emergency occur. In an emergency situation, data will need to be entered into the system at the point-of-service. ImmTrac, the current Texas immunization registry, provides a viable option for a tracking system that meets federal Pandemic Influenza Grant requirements.
ImmTrac is currently required to delete the vaccination records of a child that reaches 18 years of age, however. There are numerous other reasons to access individual vaccination records beyond that age. Health care research has recently found that some childhood vaccines require adult boosters to remain effective through a lifetime. Immunization records are needed for entry into college and other advanced degree collins marine smithfield programs. The average nursing student in Texas, for example, is 28 years old. Nursing students who can not show they have had the necessary vaccines to work in a clinical setting often can not enroll in classes, or must spend hundreds of dollars to obtain the vaccinations.
During Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana state health officials were able to provide immunization records for more than 56,000 evacuated collins marine smithfield children. Consequently, emergency personnel in Texas saved an estimated $4.2 million in revaccination costs and were able to allocate their limited resources effectively and deliver collins marine smithfield care to those evacuees with the highest need.
CSHB 1896 will create collins marine smithfield a comprehensive state registry that will allow the state to comply with federal Pandemic Influenza Grant mandates at no cost, help protect Texans in various emergencies, and help track vaccine and antiviral supplies that may be limited, disrupted or tainted.
CSHB 1896 changes the current immunization registry from a childhood registry that maintains immunization information only until 18 years of age into a lifetime registry, and replaces "child"

with "patient" throughout the bill to reflect the change. The Department of State Health Services (department) is required to keep immunization information on a person until their death, unless the individual requests in writing at any time to have their records removed collins marine smithfield from the registry.
CSHB 1896 amends the definition of data elements and payor and defines collins marine smithfield a "patient's legally authorized representative." The bill replaces "parent, managing collins marine smithfield conservator, or guardian" or "child's parent, managing conservator, or guardian" with "the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative" throughout the bill.
CSHB 1896 requires the department, by rule, to develop

guidelines to determine the process by which consent is verified, including affirmation by a health care provider, birth registrar, regional health information exchange, or local immunization registry that consent has been obtained for the immunization registry.
CSHB 1896 authorizes, rather than prohibits, the department to retain individually identifiable information about a person for whom consent can not be verified, but prohibits the department from disclosing such information to other users of the registry until consent collins marine smithfield is verified.
CSHB 1896 authorizes a health care provider who administers an immunization collins marine smithfield to a person over 18 years of age to submit data elements regarding an immunization to the department, and requires collins marine smithfield the department to verify consent before disclosing, rather than including, the information to other users of the immunization registry.
The bill requires the department, the first time the department receives registry data for a patient, for whom the department has received consent collins marine smithfield to be included in the registry, the department shall send a written notice to the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative disclosing certain information.
CSHB 1896 defines "first responder" collins marine smithfield as having the meaning assigned by Section 421.095, Government Code and requires the department collins marine smithfield to develop a program for informing collins marine smithfield first responders about the immunization registry and educating first responders about the benefits of being included in the immunization registry, including ensuring that first responders receive necessary immunizations to prevent the spread of communicable diseases to which a first responder may be exposed collins marine smithfield during a public health emergency, and preventing duplication of vaccinations.
CSHB 1896 requires the department to maintain a registry, as part of the immunity registry, of persons who receiv