A Shortcut for Getting Directives Into the Registry
The standard path for registering directives requires each person to file on their own under A.R.S. 36-3292. This statute creates a faster option.
Health information exchanges that already collect and store directive documents can send them straight to the Arizona registry.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the qualifying health information exchange organization may establish a process for transmitting to the health care directives registry documents described in section 36-3292 from a health information organization as defined in section 36-3801.
A.R.S. § 36-3292.01This matters because many directives already sit in digital health records at hospitals and physician groups. Without this statute, those groups had no clear authority to forward documents to the central registry. Now they do.
Making the Registry More Complete
A registry only works if it holds the documents providers need. If it depends on each person filing on their own, many valid documents will never make it in.
People forget. They may not know the registry exists. They may assume their doctor already has their wishes on file.
This statute helps fill those gaps. For example, a directive stored in a hospital's electronic records years ago can now reach the statewide registry. There, any provider who needs it in an emergency can find it.
The process covers mental health care powers of attorney and other medical care directives too. The exchange controls the process and sets the rules for how transfers work. This is not an automatic upload. It is a structured path the exchange can set up as resources allow.