Another law, G.S. 131D-2.11, requires NC DHHS (through the county departments of social services) to conduct annual inspections of licensed adult care homes.
This law, G.S. 131D-2.14 allows the state or county official conducting the inspection to review "any writing or other record concerning the admission, discharge, medication, care, medical condition, or history of any person who is or has been a resident" of the home being inspected.
The law authorizes "any person involved in giving care or treatment" to provide such information and provides the facility and its employees immunity from liability for disclosing information to NC DHHS or the county in the course of an inspection.
Interestingly, the facility must not disclose information to the inspecting agency if the patient objects in writing to the disclosure.  There is not, however, a parallel provision requiring the adult care home to notify the patient of this right prior to the disclosure so it is unclear how the patient would exercise this right.
Information collected by NC DHHS and the counties in the course of an inspection is also protected. While the general rule is that the inspection records are subject to the state's public records law (G.S. Chapter 132), the following information is not considered a public record:
Information that is "confidential or privileged, including medical records," 
The names of persons providing confidential and privileged information concerning a facility,
The names of residents of an adult care home, and
The names of complainants.
The law also recognizes that (1) a court may order disclosure and (2) the subject of the information (the resident) or that person's legal representative may authorize disclosure.