Opinion ID: 787339
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Release of Patient Identifying Information to the Licensing Board After an Incident

Text: 93 Ariz. Admin. Code R9-10-1504(B), (C) requires licensees to release information, including the name of a patient, to a professional licensing board if there is an incident with the patient. An incident is defined as an abortion related patient death or serious injury to a patient or viable fetus. Id. R9-10-1501(20). Plaintiffs do not appear to have raised this informational privacy claim below. We normally do not reach claims raised for the first time on appeal, but we may exercise discretion to do so where manifest injustice would otherwise result. Alexopulos by Alexopulos v. Riles, 784 F.2d 1408, 1411 (9th Cir.1986). Because the informational privacy rights of patients, who are not parties to the suit but are being represented by their physicians, are at issue, we exercise our discretion to reach this claim and prevent an invasion of their privacy rights. 94 Although professional licensing boards are not subject to the scheme's prohibitions on information disclosure, Ariz.Rev.Stat. §§ 36-449.03(I), 36-2301.02(G) (stating that the department and its contractor will not release patient identifying information), other established safeguards prohibit release of patient information to the public when any incident is reported to either the Arizona Medical Board or the Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery. Ariz.Rev.Stat. §§ 32-1451.01(C), 32-1855.03(D). 95 Assessing this regulation under the required five factors, we find that the type of information requested is narrow (a description of the incident, the name of the patient involved, and any follow up actions taken), and it is only requested when there is death or serious injury involved. Moreover, the potential for harm in any subsequent non-consensual disclosure is minimized by the existing safeguards to prevent unauthorized disclosure. We recognize that the state interest in having the professional physician licensing board follow up on serious incidents is strong, so that substandard physician practice can be disciplined, and that there is an express statutory mandate militating toward access. Therefore, we hold that Ariz. Admin. Code R9-10-1504(C) does not violate patients' informational privacy rights and is constitutional.