This proposed rule addresses changes to the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records regulations, 42 CFR part 2. This proposal was prompted by the need to update and modernize the regulations. These laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of substance abuse records were written during a time of great concern about the potential use of substance abuse information against an individual, preventing those individuals with substance use disorders from seeking needed treatment. The last substantive update to 42 CFR part 2 was in 1987. Over the last 25 years, significant changes have occurred within the U.S. health care system that were not envisioned by the current regulations, including new models of integrated care that are built on a foundation of information sharing to support coordination of patient care, the development of an electronic infrastructure for managing and exchanging patient information, and a new focus on performance measurement within the health care system. SAMHSA wants to ensure that behavioral health patients have the ability to participate in, and benefit from new integrated health care models without fear of adverse consequences. These new integrated models are foundational to HHS’s triple aim of improving health care quality, improving population health, and reducing unnecessary health care costs. SAMHSA strives to facilitate information exchange within new health care models while addressing the legitimate privacy concerns of patients seeking treatment for a substance use disorder. These concerns include: the potential for loss of employment, loss of housing, loss of child custody, discrimination by medical professionals and insurers, arrest, prosecution, and incarceration. This proposal is also an effort to make the regulations more understandable.