Section 41-21-51 - Transfer of Mississippi State Asylum Records to the University of Mississippi Medical Center's Rowland Medical Library; Asylum Hill Oversight Committee established; curation and storage of records; descendants' access to records(1) For purposes of this section, "Mississippi State Asylum Records" shall mean a collection of individual patient records, in the possession of the Mississippi State Hospital, including, but not limited to, paper charts and digital copies of paper documents, that record patient care at the Mississippi State Asylum from 1855 to 1935.(2) For the purpose of this section, "Descendant" shall mean the closest living relative of a patient at the Mississippi State Asylum.(3) The Mississippi State Asylum Records in the possession of the Mississippi State Hospital shall be permanently transferred to the Rowland Medical Library at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.(4) The University of Mississippi Medical Center shall establish the Asylum Hill Oversight Committee to govern the access, use and disclosure of the Mississippi State Asylum Records. The following standards and practices shall be followed by the Asylum Hill Oversight Committee:(a) Curation and storage. The Mississippi State Asylum Records shall be curated and stored using standard practices and procedures based on the standards set forth by the Society of American Archivists.(b) Descendants' access to records. The Asylum Hill Oversight Committee shall make reasonable efforts to identify and notify descendants of patients treated at the Mississippi State Asylum. Descendants of patients treated at the Mississippi State Asylum have the right to access specific patient records. Descendant request for records will be limited to the closest living relative of the patient of which the requestor must attest, by affidavit, that they are the closest living relative. The University of Mississippi Medical Center and its officers and employees shall be immune from any action or suit that arises from their reliance upon the affidavit of a descendant that states the affiant is the closest living relative of the decedent.(c) HIPAA. Records of patients with a documented death date less than fifty (50) years from the date of the records request constitute Protected Health Information and shall be subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Patients born before 1873 shall be presumed to have been deceased for fifty (50) years.(5) The Asylum Hill Oversight Committee shall establish procedures by which a descendant of a patient treated at the Mississippi State Asylum may opt out of any disclosure of such records. When a descendent of a patient opts out, such records shall be considered confidential and shall not be disclosed for any purpose. A descendant of a patient who was the subject of specific Mississippi State Asylum Records may consent to the University of Mississippi Medical Center using such records in a more specific manner, including disclosing specific identification designations, but no such disclosure shall be allowed without specific authorization.(6) Mississippi State Asylum Records relating to any person who has not been deceased for at least fifty (50) years shall not be exempt from the provisions of Sections 41-30-33, 41-21-97 and 13-1-21. All information, data and research regarding patients shall be anonymized. Mississippi State Asylum Records relating to any person who has not been deceased for at least fifty (50) years shall constitute Protected Health Information and shall be subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).(7) The Mississippi State Asylum Records shall be exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 337, SB 2797,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.