AB 894: General acute care hospitals: patient directories.

This bill requires general acute care hospitals to inform patients or their representatives about their right to restrict or prohibit the use or disclosure of protected health information in the hospital's patient directory. The hospitals must provide patients or their representatives with an acknowledgment of their privacy practices in a separate document and verbally inform them. The hospitals must inform patients or their representatives at the time of admission or as soon as reasonably possible in cases of patient incapacity or emergency treatment circumstances. The bill also requires that patients or their representatives be informed of their right to restrict or prohibit the use or disclosure of protected health information in a manner that is clear and understandable. Violations of the bill's requirements would be a crime.