A. The Department of Health shall generally hold confidential the names and personal information of those individuals requesting or receiving services from the Department.

B. In its discretion, the Department of Health may reveal names and personal information of those individuals who have requested or are receiving services from the Department of Health if such disclosure occurs during an investigation of any member file by the Department of Health.

C. Nothing herein shall prohibit the Tribe or the Department of Health from releasing the names or personal information of those individuals requesting or receiving services from the Department if such release is for use in any tribal, state, or federal court action. Such court actions include, but are not limited to, evictions, civil or criminal suits relating to the provision of false information, child protection cases, and guardianships, whether those suits are directly or indirectly related to those individuals who have requested or are receiving services from the Department of Health.

D. The Department of Health shall maintain compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which is the current national set of standards for the protection of certain health information. The Department of Health shall maintain compliance with all areas of HIPAA, including the type of information that is protected, permitted and authorized uses and disclosures of protected information, the amount of information disclosed, and applicable administrative requirements. (Res. 2023-30; Res. 2021-40; Res. 2014-32)