Senate Bill 1226 proposes amendments to the Arizona Revised Statutes concerning the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners (Board) and the maintenance of patient records by dental business entities. The bill requires that the business entity member on the Board must be an employee or owner of a registered business entity. It also mandates that the application for business entity registration must include the name of the entity's custodian of records, who will be responsible for accepting subpoenas and responding to patient records requests. Additionally, the bill stipulates that any changes in the custodian of records must be reported to the Board within 30 days.

The bill shifts the responsibility for maintaining all written and electronic patient records from individuals licensed or certified by the Board to the owner of the dental practice or the registered business entity. It specifies that records concerning diagnoses, evaluations, and treatments must be permanent, contemporaneous, and may be electronic, but retrievable in paper form. The bill also outlines requirements for the release of treatment records to third parties, the handling of records when a practice is sold or closed, and adds new definitions of unethical conduct related to record maintenance and compliance with Board requests. The bill includes technical and conforming changes and is set to become effective on the general effective date.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 32-1203, 32-1213, 32-1263, 32-1264, 41-1750, 92-544, 35-146, 35-147, 32-1270, 32-1201.01, 32-1201, 12-2294, 12-2294.01
Senate Engrossed Version: 32-1203, 32-1213, 32-1263, 32-1264, 41-1750, 92-544, 35-146, 35-147, 32-1270, 32-1201.01, 32-1201, 12-2294, 12-2294.01
Chaptered Version: 32-1203, 32-1213, 32-1263, 32-1264, 41-1750, 92-544, 35-146, 35-147, 32-1270, 32-1201.01, 32-1201, 12-2294, 12-2294.01