Colorado Immunization Tracking Law 
 Dept. of Public Health 
Powers and Duties.  C.R.S. 25-4-1705 (2003)

(1) The department shall negotiate for the purchase of and shall purchase vaccines to achieve the purposes of this part 17.
(2) The department shall secure and maintain such facilities as may be necessary for the safe and adequate preservation and storage of such vaccines.
(3) The department shall distribute such vaccines, in accordance with rules promulgated by the board of health, without purchase, shipping, handling, or other charges to practitioners who agree not to impose a charge for such vaccine on the infant recipient, the child's parent or guardian, third-party payor, or any other person; except that a practitioner may charge a reasonable administrative fee in connection with the administration of a vaccine. The board of health shall determine the amount of such administrative fee that a practitioner may charge.
(4) The department shall collect epidemiological information and shall establish a system for recording such information pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the board of health.
(5) The board of health, in consultation with the medical services board in the state department of health care policy and financing, and such other persons, agencies, or organizations that the board of health deems advisable, shall formulate, adopt, and promulgate rules governing the implementation and operation of the infant immunization program. Such rules shall address the following:
(a) The purchase, storage, and distribution of the vaccines by the department;
(b) Requirements that providers, hospitals, and health care clinics must meet before entering into a contract with the department, making such provider, hospital, or clinic an agent of the department for the purposes of the infant immunization program;
(c) Which vaccines shall be required to be administered;
(d) The route and frequency of the vaccine's administration;
(e) (I) The gathering of epidemiological information, including the establishment of a comprehensive immunization tracking system. Immunization information may be gathered for such tracking system by state and local health departments from the following sources:
(A) Physicians and licensed health care practitioners;
(B) Clinics;
(C) Schools;
(D) A parent of an infant, as defined in section 25-4-1703 (3);
(E) A child or student, as defined in section 25-4-901 (1.5) and (3);
(F) Managed care organizations or health insurers in which a child or student, as defined in section 25-4-901 (1.5) and (3), or an infant is enrolled as a member or insured, if such managed care organization or health insurer reimburses or otherwise financially provides coverage for immunizations;
(G) Hospitals; or
(H) Persons and entities that have contracted with the state pursuant to section 25-4-1705 (7).
(II) Records in the immunization tracking system established pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (e) shall be strictly confidential and shall not be released, shared with any agency or institution, or made public upon subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or otherwise, except under the following circumstances:
(A) Release may be made of medical and epidemiological information in a manner such that no individual person can be identified.
(B) Release may be made of immunization records and epidemiological information to the extent necessary for the treatment, control, investigation, and prevention of vaccine preventable diseases; except that every effort shall be made to limit disclosure of personal identifying information to the minimal amount necessary to accomplish the public health purpose.
(C) Release may be made of immunization records and epidemiological information to the parent of an infant, the physician treating the person who is the subject of an immunization record, a school in which such person is enrolled, or any entity or person described in sub-subparagraph (E), (F), (G), or (H) of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (e).
(D) No officer or employee or agent of the state department of public health and environment or local department of health shall be examined in any judicial, executive, legislative, or other proceeding as to the existence or content of any infant's report obtained by such department without consent of the infant's parent or guardian. However, this provision shall not apply to infants who are under isolation, quarantine, or other restrictive action taken pursuant to section 25-1.5-102 (1) (c).
(E) The department may release records of medicaid-eligible infants, children, and students to the department of health care policy and financing for the purposes of the medicaid program.
(III) (A) Any officer, employee, agent of the department, or any other person who violates this section by releasing or making public confidential immunization records or epidemiological information in the immunization tracking system or by otherwise breaching the confidentiality requirements of subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (e) or releasing such information without authorization commits a class 1 misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-501 (1), C.R.S. The unauthorized release of each record shall constitute a separate offense pursuant to this subparagraph (III).
(B) Any natural person who in exchange for money or any other thing of value violates this section by wrongfully releasing or making public confidential immunization records or epidemiological information in the immunization tracking system or by otherwise breaching the confidentiality requirements of subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (e) or releasing such information without authorization commits a class 1 misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-501 (1), C.R.S.
(C) Any business entity who, in exchange for money or any other thing of value, violates this section by wrongfully releasing or making public confidential immunization records or epidemiological information in the immunization tracking system or by otherwise breaching the confidentiality requirements of subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (e) or releasing such information without authorization shall be assessed a civil penalty of ten thousand dollars per sale of information per subject of such information.
(IV) The department shall not directly contact the parent or legal guardian for the purpose of notifying the parent or legal guardian of immunizations that are recommended or required by the board of health, unless such contact is necessary to control an outbreak of or prevent the spread of a vaccine-preventable disease pursuant to section 25-1.5-102 (1) (a) or 25-4-908.
(V) A parent or legal guardian who consents to the immunization of an infant, child, or student pursuant to this part 17 or part 9 of this article shall have the option to exclude such information from the immunization tracking system. The parent or legal guardian shall have the option to remove such information from the immunization tracking system at any time. The physician, licensed health care practitioner, clinic, or local health department shall inform the parent or legal guardian of the option to exclude such personal information from such system and the potential benefits of inclusion in such system. In addition, the physician, licensed health care practitioner, clinic, or local health department shall inform such parent or legal guardian of the option to refuse an immunization on the grounds of medical, religious, or personal belief considerations pursuant to section 25-4-903.
(f) The issuance of immunization records to parents or guardians;
(g) The assessment of the vaccination status of infants;
(h) The dissemination of information about the operation of the infant immunization program, including the requirement that such information be distributed by hospitals to parents of newborns.
(6) The department is authorized to accept any gifts or grants or awards of funds from the federal government or private sources for the implementation and operation of the infant immunization program.
(7) The department is authorized to enter into contracts which are necessary for the implementation and operation of the infant immunization program.
(8) Local health departments and the department shall use the birth certificate of any infant to enroll such infant in an immunization tracking system. Such use of the infant's birth certificate shall be considered an official duty of local health departments and the department.
(9) (a) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 2198, § 1, effective August 6, 2003.)
(b) The department or any person who contracts with the department pursuant to subsection (7) of this section shall not establish a universal purchase system for the procurement of vaccines for privately insured persons under federal government contracts.
(10) Physicians, licensed health care practitioners, clinics, schools, licensed child care providers, hospitals, managed care organizations or health insurers in which a student as defined in section 25-4-901 (3) or an infant is enrolled as a member or insured, persons that have contracted with the department pursuant to subsection (7) of this section, and public health officials may release any immunization records in their possession, whether or not such records are in the immunization tracking system, to the persons or entities specified in sub-subparagraphs (A) to (H) of subparagraph (I) of paragraph (e) of subsection (5) of this section to provide an accurate and complete immunization record for the child in order to verify compliance with state immunization law.
Source: L. 92: Entire part added, p. 1309, § 1, effective July 1. L. 94: IP(5), (5)(b), and (5)(e)(IV) amended, p. 2776, § 475, effective July 1. L. 98: (5)(e) amended, p. 20, § 3, effective August 5. L. 2001: IP(5) and (5)(e) amended and (9) and (10) added, p. 825, § 4, effective August 8. L. 2002: (5)(e)(III)(A) and (5)(e)(III)(B) amended, p. 1536, § 266, effective October 1. L. 2003: (5)(e)(II)(D) and (5)(e)(IV) amended, p. 710, § 42, effective July 1; (9) amended, p. 2198, § 1, effective August 6.
Editor's note: Subsection (9) was contained in a 2003 act that was passed without a safety clause. For further information concerning the effective date, see page vii of this volume.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2002 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 2002.