L. Hospital reports.

A hospital district's personnel records stating the name, height, weight, position, and salary of employees are not protected by common law privacy. Op. Tex. Att'y Gen. DM-081 (1994). The accounts receivable of a public hospital-including patient names, amount owed, and when an account became delinquent-are public. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-385 (1983).

Several types of health-related records are made confidential by other statutes and therefore are excepted from disclosure under section 552.101. For example, diagnosis and treatment records, if prepared by or under the supervision of a physician, are confidential. Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 159.002. Daily hospital logs that are not prepared by or under the supervision of a physician are not confidential. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-487 (1988). Additionally, emergency medical services' records are excepted from public disclosure if they are created under the delegated authority of a physician. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-578 (1990). The records of a "medical peer review committee" of a "healthcare entity" are confidential only when the committee actually evaluates the quality of medical care. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-595 (1991) (addressing the records of a "death review committee" of a state mental health and mental retardation residential facility); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-591 (1991) (stating that the meeting minutes of a hospital's "quality management committee" are confidential to encourage frank discussion). Information concerning specific people receiving government funded medical assistance is generally confidential. Tex. Hum. Res. Code Ann. § § 12.003, 21.012; see also Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-641 (1996) (stating that information collected under the Americans with Disabilities Act from an applicant or employee concerning that person's medical condition and medical history is confidential under section 552.101).  HIPAA does not preempt state TPIA.  Abbott v. Texas Dep’t. of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, 212 S.W.3d 648, 664-6 (Tex. App.—Austin 2006, no pet.) (governmental body must determine whether the TPIA compels disclosure or whether the information is excepted from disclosure under the TPIA). 

Separate legislation governs the release of records from mental health facilities. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 576.005. Generally, reviews of medical files, correspondence between patients and their parents, correspondence from hospital staff to parents of patients, and notes of visits with parents of patients are excepted as highly intimate or embarrassing facts. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-163 (1977). Some detailed medical histories might be exempt in their entirety while other records might be public if the information identifying patients can be deleted. Id.

The Texas Board of Medical Examiner's licensing file on a particular doctor including the completed application is public. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-215 (1978). However, information in the file concerning an applicant's substance abuse, criminal history, or mental illness is subject to disclosure on a case by case basis. Id. Records of a Department of Health investigation of a home health services agency are confidential. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 142.009(d); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-603 (1992).

The Texas Department of Health Records concerning routine examinations of dairy and meat products are public. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-48 (1974). Official orders of county health departments concerning cafeterias are also public information. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-27 (1974). Generally, however, records of a county health department's investigation of food poisoning at a restaurant are confidential. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-577 (1990) (citing Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 81.046(a)).