An Act Concerning The Secure Transmission Of Safety Plans Of Minor Patients To Schools By Health Care Providers.
HB 5168 establishes a new process for sharing a minor patient’s behavioral health safety plan with the student’s school, but only with consent and only after certain conditions are met. Beginning April 1, 2027, health care providers that prepare a safety plan for a minor who has received at least 12 consecutive days of inpatient behavioral health treatment must review the plan with the patient if medically appropriate, ask whether the patient or parent/legal representative consents to sharing it with the school, and, if consent is given, transmit the plan through a secure messaging system or another HIPAA-compliant method. For minors age 16 or older, the minor may provide the written consent instead of a parent or representative.
The bill defines key terms such as “safety plan,” “designated employee,” and “secure messaging system,” and it limits access at schools to specific personnel such as a school nurse supervisor, school nurse, counselor, social worker, or psychologist designated by the local board of education. Schools must keep the safety plan in a confidential file separate from the student’s academic or health record, though the information may be used to support interventions under an individualized education program or Section 504 plan. The bill also states that it does not create a standard of care, does not require providers to create a safety plan, and does not override existing confidentiality protections for sensitive minor health services.
The bill also amends the State-wide Health Information Exchange statute to require, within available appropriations, that it provide each school district or school with a secure messaging organizational account and access for designated employees at no cost. Local and regional boards of education must sign up for the account by January 1, 2027, provide access to designated employees, and submit the school’s secure messaging address to the Commissioner of Education, who must maintain a statewide list for providers to use. The Department of Education must also develop guidance and training materials for school staff beginning with the 2027-2028 school year.
Overall, the bill appears to have broad support in committee, as reflected by strong favorable votes in both the Public Health and Education committees, though the Public Health vote was not unanimous. The general sentiment suggests the bill is intended to improve coordination between hospitals and schools for students leaving inpatient behavioral health care, with an emphasis on secure communication and confidentiality. The main points of caution are the consent requirements, the need to protect sensitive information, and the bill’s reliance on the Health Information Exchange and available appropriations to implement the school messaging system.
HB 5168 would add new duties for health care providers, local and regional boards of education, the Commissioner of Education, and the State-wide Health Information Exchange. It creates a statutory framework for transmitting minor patients’ behavioral health safety plans to schools, requires schools to maintain confidential files for those plans, and amends CGS 17b-59d to make school secure messaging accounts part of the Health Information Exchange’s goals. The bill would also require state-level guidance and training for school personnel and establish a statewide directory of school secure messaging addresses for providers to use.
The available voting history indicates generally favorable sentiment toward the bill. It received a 21-10 joint favorable substitute vote in the Public Health committee and a much stronger 40-2 vote in the Education committee, suggesting broad agreement with the bill’s goal of improving communication and support for students with behavioral health needs. The absence of transcript excerpts limits insight into detailed debate, but the vote margins indicate that most members viewed the proposal positively while a smaller group remained unconvinced or concerned about implementation and privacy.
The likely areas of contention are privacy, consent, and implementation burden. The bill carefully limits disclosure to situations where the minor or parent/legal representative consents, and it preserves existing confidentiality rules for sensitive services such as pregnancy, abortion, contraception, HIV/STI care, and mental health treatment where confidentiality is protected by law or promise. Another potential concern is whether schools and the Health Information Exchange can implement secure messaging accounts and training at no cost, since the bill conditions several provisions on that capability and on available appropriations. Some members may also have been concerned about the age-16 consent rule, the handling of confidential records at schools, and whether the bill could create expectations for coordination without requiring providers to create safety plans in the first place.