HB 89: Public Health, Department of; require healthcare providers, facilities, and pharmacies to provide the Maternal Mortality Review Committee with psychiatric or other clinical records

This bill changes several parts of Georgia law dealing with how the state investigates maternal deaths and organizes perinatal care. It requires health care providers, health care facilities, and pharmacies to give the Maternal Mortality Review Committee access to psychiatric records, not just general medical records, within 30 days of a request, unless state or federal law blocks it. It also amends Georgia's mental health treatment records law (O.C.G.A. § 37-3-166) so that the clinical records of a deceased patient can be released to that same committee. The bill creates a new Regional Perinatal Center Advisory Committee inside the Department of Public Health to review whether Georgia's regional perinatal centers, hospitals designated to handle high-risk pregnancies and deliveries, are adequate. Starting July 1, 2026, and every four years after, the department must assess the system and report a plan to the Governor and legislative leaders. The bill also removes a requirement that death inquiries for pregnant women go through a regional perinatal center.

• Requires health care providers, facilities, and pharmacies to give the Maternal Mortality Review Committee access to psychiatric records connected to a death under review, within 30 days.
• Shields those providers from civil, criminal, or disciplinary liability for good-faith disclosure of medical and psychiatric records to the committee.
• Amends Georgia's mental health records law (O.C.G.A. § 37-3-166) to allow release of a deceased patient's clinical records to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
• Creates the Regional Perinatal Center Advisory Committee, made up of 11 to 21 members appointed by the commissioner of public health, to review the state's network of hospitals designated for high-risk births.
• Requires the Department of Public Health to assess the regional perinatal system and present a plan to state leaders every four years starting July 1, 2026.
• Removes the requirement that a medical examiner's inquiry into a pregnant woman's death be conducted through a regional perinatal center.

Licensed health care providers, hospitals and other health care facilities, and pharmacies that must turn over records; the Maternal Mortality Review Committee and Department of Public Health staff who receive them; families of deceased patients whose psychiatric and clinical records may be disclosed; hospitals seeking designation as regional perinatal centers; and coroners and medical examiners handling death inquiries.

Giving the review committee access to psychiatric records and deceased patients' clinical files could help investigators better understand causes of maternal deaths, including those linked to mental health. The new perinatal advisory committee could shape which hospitals handle high-risk births and how the state funds them.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-16 to add psychiatric records to the medical records providers must give the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, with a 30-day response window and exceptions where law prohibits release.
• Section 1 extends legal immunity to providers who disclose medical and psychiatric records in good faith to the committee.
• Section 2 adds a new Article 4 to Chapter 2A of Title 31 creating the Regional Perinatal Center Advisory Committee, defining its 11 to 21 member composition, four-year terms, and duty to advise the commissioner on adding, reducing, or transitioning regional perinatal centers.
• Section 2 requires the department, beginning July 1, 2026 and every four years after, to assess the adequacy of transport systems, coordination, and services provided by regional perinatal centers.
• Section 2 requires hospitals seeking regional perinatal center designation to report their capacity, funding needs, staffing problems, and current services to the department.
• Section 2 requires the department to present a statewide perinatal center plan to the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President every four years starting July 1, 2026.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 37-3-166 to allow release of a deceased patient's clinical record to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, except for legally privileged material.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 45-16-24 to remove the requirement that a medical examiner's inquiry into a pregnant woman's death go through a regional perinatal center.

1. 2025-07-01Effective Date
2. 2025-05-01Act 43
3. 2025-05-01House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-18Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-18Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-13Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-11Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-45)Primary sponsor
• Will Wade (R, HD-9)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-15)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-50)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2025

   168 yea, 7 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #126

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 18, 2025

   50 yea, 1 nay (1 not voting, 4 excused)

   PASSAGE: Senate Vote #237

• maternal mortality
• perinatal care
• psychiatric records privacy
• public health regulation
• hospital designation