Health records; disclosure of laboratory test results, waiting period.
Summary
Health records; disclosure of laboratory test results; waiting period. Requires health care entities to wait 72 hours before disclosing test results that could indicate malignancy or genetic markers as part of a patient's health records unless the disclosure of such test results is requested by the patient, is not possible due to the health care entity's electronic health records system, or such early disclosure is in the patient's best interest. The bill permits health care entities to disclose health records to an electronic health information exchange to comply with the federal 21st Century Cures Act.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026
Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized and approved, changing its status from a draft proposal to an official law. The substantive policy content regarding health record privacy and laboratory test result disclosure remains unchanged, though the formatting was standardized to match official legislative publication standards.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to govern health record privacy and the waiting period for laboratory test results in Virginia.
TECHNICAL
The document status was updated from 'Enrolled' to 'Chaptered' with an approval date of April 6, 2026, indicating the bill has been signed into law.
Excessive blank lines and inconsistent spacing were removed to standardize the formatting for official publication.
Minor punctuation and spacing adjustments were made to the text of the statute for consistency with official code formatting.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026
How they voted
36–0
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 39
Feb 27, 2026
D
Democratic20
90% Yea
R
Republican19
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
28
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 248 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB973ER)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Health
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (94-Y 2-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Health and Human Services (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned sub: Health
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Cia Price
DDemocratic
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