(a) Pursuant to § 68-1-104, the commissioner of health or the commissioner's designee may obtain records maintained by any facility licensed under this title to facilitate investigations and inquiries concerning opioid drug abuse, opioid drug overdoses, and opioid overdose deaths. Such facilities shall provide records in the most efficient and expedient means possible. To determine these means, the department shall: (1) Consult with stakeholders to develop data reporting elements and a short term mechanism for near real-time electronic access to these data elements by July 1, 2016;(2) Implement the short-term reporting system by October 1, 2016; and(3) Consult with stakeholders to develop a long-term electronic real-time data reporting plan utilizing electronic processes for opioid drug abuse, overdoses, and overdose deaths by January 1, 2017.(b) Electronic access and reporting shall be limited to the minimum necessary to facilitate the commissioner's investigation or inquiry and may be communicated to licensed clinicians involved in the patient's care or their authorized representatives.Added by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 959, s 1, eff. 4/27/2016.