January 5, 2012

Ms. Terri L. Cox, RHIA

Chief Quality Officer

Matagorda Regional Medical Center

104 7^th Street

Bay City, Texas 77414

OR2012-00204

Dear Ms. Cox:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 442002.

The Matagorda Regional Medical Center (the "center") received a request for a copy of a contract entered into in 2011 for an emergency department information system as well as all bid proposals related to that contract. ⁽¹⁾ Although you take no position regarding whether the requested information is excepted from disclosure, you state its release may implicate the proprietary interests of Medical Information Technology, Inc. Accordingly, you provide documentation showing you have notified Medical Information Technology, Inc. of the request for information and its right to submit arguments to this office. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exceptions in the Act in certain circumstances). We have reviewed the submitted information.

An interested third party is allowed ten business days after the date of its receipt of the governmental body's notice to submit its reasons, if any, as to why information relating to that party should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this ruling, we have not received comments from Medical Information Technology, Inc. Thus, we have no basis to conclude that Medical Information Technology, Inc. has a protected proprietary interest in any of the submitted information. See id. § 552.110(a)-(b); Open Records Decision Nos. 661 at 5-6 (1999) (to prevent disclosure of commercial or financial information, party must show by specific factual evidence, not conclusory or generalized allegations, that release of the requested information would cause that party substantial competitive harm), 552 at 5 (1990) (party must establish prima facie case that information is trade secret), 542 at 3. Accordingly, the center may not withhold any of the information at issue on the basis of any proprietary interest Medical Information Technology, Inc. may have in the information. As no exceptions to disclosure have been raised, the submitted information must be released to the requestor.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Jessica Marsh

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/em

Ref: ID# 442002

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. James Treat

Medical Information Technology, Inc.

MEDITECH Circle

Westwood, Massachusetts 02090

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the center asked for and received clarification of the request. See Gov't Code § 552.222(b) (providing if request for information is unclear, governmental body may ask requestor to clarify request); see also City of Dallas v. Abbott, 304 S.W.3d 380, 387 (Tex. 2010) (holding when a governmental entity, acting in good faith, requests clarification or narrowing of unclear or overbroad request for public information, ten-day period to request attorney general ruling is measured from date request is clarified or narrowed).

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