Senate passes bill letting patients exclude sensitive records from shared EHRs after heated floor debate

The New York State Senate on May 18 passed Senate Print 16433B, a Public Health Law amendment that lets patients request selective exclusion or redaction of sensitive clinical information from shared electronic health records. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Fernandez, told colleagues the change is intended to "prevent discrimination" and to protect New Yorkers who seek care in states with differing laws.

Supporters said the measure protects patients who might avoid care if certain histories are broadly visible. "This bill gives that protection to the individual, to prevent discrimination, to prevent maybe lack of care," Senator Fernandez said during a prolonged Q&A on the floor. She told senators that the types of services that can be excluded are narrowly defined in the bill and include reproductive-health services, gender-affirming care, HIV care, substance use disorder treatment and mental-healthcare.

Opponents raised concerns that removing or hiding information could impede clinicians in emergencies and argued the change risked reducing the integrity of electronic health records. Senator Martin said the Senate’s earlier work to promote comprehensive electronic health records sought to give clinicians a full medical history and argued the bill could leave doctors without critical information. He warned against undermining "complete medical records" needed for safe care.

Senators pressed the sponsor on operational details: whether a treating clinician would see an indication that records had been redacted; whether emergency-room providers could access withheld records; and how the proposal would interact with federal protections and recent federal rule changes related to substance-use records (42 CFR Part 2). Senator Fernandez and the sponsor’s office told the floor that the bill includes emergency exceptions allowing full access when clinically necessary and that the Department of Health would issue rules and guidance to operationalize those cases.

The sponsor also said the legislation was motivated in part by litigation and enforcement actions in other states after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, and by instances she described of out-of-state civil suits related to services obtained in New York. She said the bill is intended to let patients seek care without fear that out-of-state actors could use electronic records against them.

Senators also debated outreach and implementation. The sponsor said she had engaged with more than 200 individual clinicians and other health professionals who supported the bill, and acknowledged organized opposition from some technology vendors and hospital associations that raised technical and patient-safety concerns. She said amendments had been added to preserve emergency access and to direct the Department of Health to create procedures for when withheld information should be available to treating providers.

After extended questioning and floor debate, the Senate restored the bill to the regular calendar and passed it on a roll call (Ayes 40, Nays 19). The measure will be sent to the governor for signature or veto and, if signed, the bill takes effect as specified in the statute (the bill text states immediate effect in the Senate reading).