New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 16 - OCCUPATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
Chapter 10 - MEDICINE AND SURGERY PRACTITIONERS
Part 17 - MANAGEMENT OF MEDICAL RECORDS
Section 16.10.17.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Electronic medical billing" means all data defined in Subsection D of this section that is kept by computer hard drive or disk, server hard drives or other media which is printer capable upon request.

B. "Electronic medical records" means all information contained in Subsection E of this section that is kept by computer hard drive or disk, server hard drives or other media, which is printer capable upon request.

C. "Group practice" means an association of providers who practice jointly. Providers need not be of the same specialty; however, they shall practice under a common entity. Group practice does not include any government agency or non-profit organization that employs providers.

D. "Medical billing" means all data kept by a physician to procure payment including, but not limited to, claims processing, forms, submissions, correspondence, and accounting ledgers.

E. "Medical record" means all information maintained by a physician relating to the past, present or future physical or mental health of a patient, and for the provision of health care to a patient. This information includes, but is not limited to: the physician's notes; reports and summaries; x-rays and laboratory results; other diagnostic test results. A patient's complete medical record includes information generated and maintained by the physician, as well as information provided to the physician by the patient, by any other physician who has consulted with or treated the patient, and other information acquired by the physician about the patient in connection with the provision of health care to the patient. Medical record does not include medical billing, insurance forms or correspondence related thereto.

F. "Established physician- or physician assistant-patient relationship" means a relationship between a physician or physician assistant and a patient that is for the purpose of maintaining the patient's well-being. At a minimum, this relationship is established by an interactive encounter between patient and physician or physician assistant involving an appropriate history and physical or mental status examination sufficient to make a diagnosis and to provide, prescribe or recommend treatment, with the informed consent from the patient and availability of the physician or physician assistant or coverage for the patient for appropriate follow-up care. A medical record must be generated by the encounter.

G. "Psychotherapy notes" means notes recorded in any medium by a health care provider who is a mental health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint, or family counseling session and that are separated from the rest of the individual's medical record. Psychotherapy notes exclude information that is found in the medical record, including medication prescription and monitoring, counseling session start and stop times, the modalities and frequencies of treatment furnished, results of clinical tests and any summary of the following items: diagnosis, functional status, the treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis and progress to date. To meet the definition of psychotherapy notes, the information must be separated from the rest of the individual's medical record.