(a) Reports of cancer from health care facilities, clinical laboratories and health care practitioners shall be submitted to the Texas Cancer Registry electronically using a secure electronic process as defined by the department. At the request and with the authorization of the applicable health care facility, clinical laboratory, or health care practitioner, data may be furnished to the Texas Cancer Registry through a health information exchange.     
      (b) The Texas Cancer Registry may accept the submission of paper copies of medical records from a health care facility, pathology reports from a clinical laboratory and reports or subsets of reports from a health care practitioner under the following conditions.      
        (1) The department, or its authorized representative, shall determine that such paper submissions are more expedient than electronic reporting.       
        (2) The acceptance of paper submissions from a health care facility, clinical laboratory or health care practitioner shall be approved by the department or its authorized representative.       
        (3) The department, or its authorized representative, may approve acceptance of paper submissions from defined groups or types of health care facilities, clinical laboratories or health care practitioners.       
        (4) All records and reports provided to the Texas Cancer Registry pursuant to this subsection must be transmitted by secure means at all times to protect the confidentiality of the data.       
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §91.6 adopted to be effective August 6, 1998, 23 TexReg 7801; amended to be effective November 7, 2002, 27 TexReg 10387; amended to be effective July 9, 2006, 31 TexReg 5300; amended to be effective August 14, 2011, 36 TexReg 4963; amended to be effective April 2, 2017, 42 TexReg 1450