Recorded gender identity, sexual orientation, racial, ethnic information necessary for storing demographic information; compliance; penalties.
N.J. Stat. § 45:9-42.47
in effect3. Any electronic medical records or laboratory information management systems used by acute care hospitals and licensed clinical laboratories in this State or sold by a vendor of such systems in this State for use by acute care hospitals and licensed clinical laboratories, on or after the effective date of this act, shall be configured in a manner that prevents an authorized user from saving or storing a patient's demographic information into the electronic medical records or laboratory information management systems unless a selection for a patient's gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic information is recorded. Nothing in this act shall prohibit a clinical laboratory from receiving, processing, or saving data related to specimens that are ordered or received from outside of this State. The gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic information of a patient shall be included in laboratory orders generated by electronic medical record systems. The Department of Health may impose necessary corrective actions to achieve compliance with the provisions of this section, which may include, but need not be limited to, an attestation to be completed by an acute care hospital or a licensed clinical laboratory that: indicates specific steps that will be taken to achieve compliance within 120 days following the date of attestation; acknowledges legal obligations and penalties under this section; and provides relevant vendor information. A vendor of electronic medical records or laboratory information management systems that fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be liable to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each day during which the vendor's system is out of compliance. A civil penalty assessed pursuant to this section shall be collected by and in the name of the Department of Health in summary proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.174 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). L.2021, c.454, s.3; amended 2022, c.44, s.3.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026