Patients' Bill of Rights (licensed health facilities, confidentiality of records)
NH Patients' Bill of Rights
Health
Requires every licensed health facility's patient rights policy to guarantee privacy in treatment and personal care and confidential handling of personal and clinical records, including electronically stored data. Release to anyone not authorized by law requires the patient's written consent, and patients own and may copy the medical information in their facility records.
- Where
- New Hampshire
- Citation
- N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 151:21
- Status
- In force
- Last amended
- 2025-07-01
- Enforced by
- NH Department of Health and Human Services (facility licensing)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Not stated in the section; enforced through facility licensing.
- Applies to
- Residential care and health care facilities licensed under RSA ch. 151 (other than admissions by home health care providers)
Rights it gives people
- Medical information in facility records is the patient's property, and the patient is entitled to a copy on request.RSA 151:21, X
Practices it requires
- Ensure confidential treatment of all information in a patient's personal and clinical record, including data banks, and obtain written consent before releasing it to anyone not authorized by law.RSA 151:21, X
- Provide privacy in treatment and personal care and privacy for visits.RSA 151:21, I, XV
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: effective_date left null: originally enacted 1981, 453:1; exact date not shown | Enforcement and remedies are in other sections of RSA 151 (not fetched)
Research reference, not legal advice.