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[Utah Code Table of Contents]
[TITLE 26. Table of Contents]
26-33a-101 Short title.
This chapter is known as the "Utah Health Data Authority
Act."
1990
26-33a-102 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Committee" means the Health Data Committee created by Section 26-1-7 .
(2) "Control number" means a number assigned by the committee to an individual's health data as an identifier so that the health data can be disclosed or used in research and statistical analysis without readily identifying the individual.
(3) "Data supplier" means a health care facility, health care provider, self-funded employer, third-party payor, health maintenance organization, or government department which could reasonably be expected to provide health data under this chapter.
(4) "Disclosure" or "disclose" means the communication of health care data to any individual or organization outside the committee, its staff, and contracting agencies.
(5) "Executive director" means the director of the department.
(6) "Health care facility" means a facility that is licensed by the department under Title 26, Chapter 21, Health Care Facility Licensure and Inspection Act. The committee may by rule add, delete, or modify the list of facilities that come within this definition for purposes of this chapter.
(7) "Health care provider" means any person, partnership, association, corporation, or other facility or institution that renders or causes to be rendered health care or professional services as a physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, nurse-midwife, dentist, dental hygienist, optometrist, clinical laboratory technologist, pharmacist, physical therapist, podiatric physician, psychologist, chiropractic physician, naturopathic physician, osteopathic physician, osteopathic physician and surgeon, audiologist, speech pathologist, certified social worker, social service worker, social service aide, marriage and family counselor, or practitioner of obstetrics, and others rendering similar care and services relating to or arising out of the health needs of persons or groups of persons, and officers, employees, or agents of any of the above acting in the course and scope of their employment.
(8) "Health data" means information relating to the health status of individuals, health services delivered, the availability of health manpower and facilities, and the use and costs of resources and services to the consumer, except vital records as defined in Section 26-2-2 shall be excluded.
(9) "Health maintenance organization" has the meaning set forth in Section 31A-8-101 .
(10) "Identifiable health data" means any item, collection, or grouping of health data that makes the individual supplying or described in the health data identifiable.
(11) "Individual" means a natural person.
(12) "Organization" means any corporation, association, partnership, agency, department, unit, or other legally constituted institution or entity, or part thereof.
(13) "Research and statistical analysis" means activities using health data analysis including:
(a) describing the group characteristics of individuals or organizations;
(b) analyzing the noncompliance among the various characteristics of individuals or organizations;
(c) conducting statistical procedures or studies to improve the quality of health data;
(d) designing sample surveys and selecting samples of individuals or organizations; and
(e) preparing and publishing reports describing these matters.
(14) "Self-funded employer" means an employer who provides for the payment of health care services for his employees directly from the employer's funds, thereby assuming the financial risks rather than passing them on to an outside insurer through premium payments.
(15) "Plan" means the plan developed and adopted by the Health Data Committee under Section 26-33a-104 .
(16) "Third-party payor" means any insurer offering health
care insurance, as defined by Section
31A-1-301
, any nonprofit health service insurance corporation
licensed under Title 31A, Chapter 7, Nonprofit Health Service
Insurance Corporations, any program funded or administered
by the state of Utah for the provision of health care services,
including the Medicaid and medical assistance programs described
in Title 26, Chapter 18, or any other similar corporation,
organization, association, entity, or person.
1996
26-33a-103 Committee membership - Terms - Chair - Compensation.
(1) The Health Data Committee created by Section 26-1-7 shall be composed of 13 members appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate.
(2) No more than seven members of the committee may be members of the same political party.
(3) The appointed members of the committee shall be knowledgeable regarding the health care system and the characteristics and use of health data and shall be selected so that the committee at all times includes individuals who provide care.
(4) The membership of the committee shall be:
(a) one person employed by or otherwise associated with a hospital as defined by Section 26-21-2 ;
(b) one physician, as defined in Section 58-67-102 , licensed to practice in this state, who spends the majority of his time in the practice of medicine in this state;
(c) one registered nurse licensed to practice in this state under Title 58, Chapter 31b, Nurse Practice Act;
(d) three persons employed by or otherwise associated with a business that supplies health care insurance to its employees, at least one of whom represents an employer employing 50 or fewer employees;
(e) one person employed by or associated with a third-party payor that is not licensed under Title 31A, Chapter 8, Health Maintenance Organizations and Limited Health Plans;
(f) two consumer representatives from organized consumer or employee associations;
(g) one person broadly representative of the public interest;
(h) one person employed by or associated with an organization that is licensed under Title 31A, Chapter 8, Health Maintenance Organizations and Limited Health Plans; and
(i) two people representing public health.
(5) (a) Except as required by Subsection (5)(b), as terms of current committee members expire, the governor shall appoint each new member or reappointed member to a four-year term.
(b) Notwithstanding the requirements of Subsection (5)(a), the governor shall, at the time of appointment or reappointment, adjust the length of terms to ensure that the terms of committee members are staggered so that approximately half of the committee is appointed every two years.
(c) Members may serve after their terms expire until replaced.
(6) When a vacancy occurs in the membership for any reason, the replacement shall be appointed for the unexpired term.
(7) Committee members shall annually elect a chair of the committee from among their membership.
(8) The committee shall meet at least once during each calendar quarter. Meeting dates shall be set by the chair upon ten working days notice to the other members, or upon written request by at least four committee members with at least ten working days notice to other committee members.
(9) Seven committee members constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Action may not be taken except upon the affirmative vote of a majority of a quorum of the committee.
(10) (a) (i) Members who are not government employees shall receive no compensation or benefits for their services, but may receive per diem and expenses incurred in the performance of the member's official duties at the rates established by the Division of Finance under Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107 .
(ii) Members may decline to receive per diem and expenses for their service.
(b) (i) State government officer and employee members who do not receive salary, per diem, or expenses from their agency for their service may receive per diem and expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties from the committee at the rates established by the Division of Finance under Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107 .
(ii) State government officer and employee members may decline to receive per diem and expenses for their service.
(11) All meetings of the committee shall be open to the
public, except that the committee may hold a closed meeting
if the requirements of Sections
52-4-204
,
52-4-205
, and
52-4-206
are met.
2006
26-33a-104 Purpose, powers, and duties of the committee.
(1) The purpose of the committee is to direct a statewide effort to collect, analyze, and distribute health care data to facilitate the promotion and accessibility of quality and cost-effective health care and also to facilitate interaction among those with concern for health care issues.
(2) The committee shall:
(a) develop and adopt by rule, following public hearing and comment, a health data plan that shall among its elements:
(i) identify the key health care issues, questions, and problems amenable to resolution or improvement through better data, more extensive or careful analysis, or improved dissemination of health data;
(ii) document existing health data activities in the state to collect, organize, or make available types of data pertinent to the needs identified in Subsection (2)(a)(i);
(iii) describe and prioritize the actions suitable for the committee to take in response to the needs identified in Subsection (2)(a)(i) in order to obtain or to facilitate the obtaining of needed data, and to encourage improvements in existing data collection, interpretation, and reporting activities, and indicate how those actions relate to the activities identified under Subsection (2)(a)(ii);
(iv) detail the types of data needed for the committee's work, the intended data suppliers, and the form in which such data are to be supplied, noting the consideration given to the potential alternative sources and forms of such data and to the estimated cost to the individual suppliers as well as to the department of acquiring these data in the proposed manner; the plan shall reasonably demonstrate that the committee has attempted to maximize cost-effectiveness in the data acquisition approaches selected;
(v) describe the types and methods of validation to be performed to assure data validity and reliability;
(vi) explain the intended uses of and expected benefits to be derived from the data specified in Subsection (2)(a)(iv), including the contemplated tabulation formats and analysis methods; the benefits described must demonstrably relate to one or more of the following: promoting quality health care, managing health care costs, or improving access to health care services;
(vii) describe the expected processes for interpretation and analysis of the data flowing to the committee; noting specifically the types of expertise and participation to be sought in those processes; and
(viii) describe the types of reports to be made available by the committee and the intended audiences and uses;
(b) have the authority to collect, validate, analyze, and present health data in accordance with the plan while protecting individual privacy through the use of a control number as the health data identifier;
(c) evaluate existing identification coding methods and, if necessary, require by rule that health data suppliers use a uniform system for identification of patients, health care facilities, and health care providers on health data they submit under this chapter;
(d) report biennially to the governor and the Legislature on how the committee is meeting its responsibilities under this chapter; and
(e) advise, consult, contract, and cooperate with any corporation, association, or other entity for the collection, analysis, processing, or reporting of health data identified by control number only in accordance with the plan.
(3) The committee may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this chapter in accordance with Title 63, Chapter 46a, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
(4) Except for data collection, analysis, and validation functions described in this section, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize or permit the committee to perform regulatory functions which are delegated by law to other agencies of the state or federal governments or to perform quality assurance or medical record audit functions that health care facilities, health care providers, or third-party payors are required to conduct to comply with federal or state law. The committee shall not recommend or determine whether a health care provider, health care facility, third-party payor, or self-funded employer is in compliance with federal or state laws including but not limited to federal or state licensure, insurance, reimbursement, tax, malpractice, or quality assurance statutes or common law.
(5) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a data supplier to supply health data identifying a patient by name or describing detail on a patient beyond that needed to achieve the approved purposes included in the plan.
(6) No request for health data shall be made of health care providers and other data suppliers until a plan for the use of such health data has been adopted.
(7) If a proposed request for health data imposes unreasonable costs on a data supplier, due consideration shall be given by the committee to altering the request. If the request is not altered, the committee shall pay the costs incurred by the data supplier associated with satisfying the request that are demonstrated by the data supplier to be unreasonable.
(8) The committee does not have the authority to require any data supplier to submit fee schedules, maximum allowable costs, area prevailing costs, terms of contracts, discounts, fixed reimbursement arrangements, capitations, or other specific arrangements for reimbursement to a health care provider.
(9) The committee shall not publish any health data which would disclose any of the information described in Subsection (8).
(10) Nothing in Subsection (8) shall prevent the committee
from requiring the submission of health data on the reimbursements
actually made to health care providers from any source of
payment, including consumers.
1996
26-33a-105 Executive secretary - Appointment - Powers.
(1) An executive secretary shall be appointed by the executive director, with the approval of the committee, and shall serve under the administrative direction of the executive director.
(2) The executive secretary shall:
(a) employ full-time employees necessary to carry out this chapter;
(b) supervise the development of a draft health data plan for the committee's review, modification, and approval; and
(c) supervise and conduct the staff functions of the committee
in order to assist the committee in meeting its responsibilities
under this chapter.
1990
26-33a-106 Limitations on use of health data.
The committee may not use the health data provided to
it by third-party payors, health care providers, or health
care facilities to make recommendations with regard to a
single health care provider or health care facility, or a
group of health care providers or health care facilities.
1996
26-33a-106.5 Comparative analyses.
(1) The committee may publish compilations or reports that compare and identify health care providers or data suppliers from the data it collects under this chapter or from any other source.
(2) (a) The committee shall publish compilations or reports from the data it collects under this chapter or from any other source which:
(i) contain the information described in Subsection (2)(b); and
(ii) compare and identify by name at least a majority of the health care facilities and institutions in the state.
(b) The report required by this Subsection (2) shall:
(i) be published at least annually; and
(ii) contain comparisons based on at least the following factors:
(A) nationally recognized quality standards;
(B) charges; and
(C) nationally recognized patient safety standards.
(3) The committee may contract with a private, independent analyst to evaluate the standard comparative reports of the committee that identify, compare, or rank the performance of data suppliers by name. The evaluation shall include a validation of statistical methodologies, limitations, appropriateness of use, and comparisons using standard health services research practice. The analyst must be experienced in analyzing large databases from multiple data suppliers and in evaluating health care issues of cost, quality, and access. The results of the analyst's evaluation must be released to the public before the standard comparative analysis upon which it is based may be published by the committee.
(4) The committee shall adopt by rule a timetable for the collection and analysis of data from multiple types of data suppliers.
(5) The comparative analysis required under Subsection
(2) shall be available free of charge and easily accessible
to the public.
2005
26-33a-107 Limitations on release of reports.
The committee may not release a compilation or report that compares and identifies health care providers or data suppliers unless it:
(1) allows the data supplier and the health care provider to verify the accuracy of the information submitted to the committee and submit to the committee any corrections of errors with supporting evidence and comments within a reasonable period of time to be established by rule;
(2) corrects data found to be in error; and
(3) allows the data supplier a reasonable amount of time
prior to publication to review the committee's interpretation
of the data and prepare a response.
1996
26-33a-108 Disclosure of identifiable health data prohibited.
(1) All information, reports, statements, memoranda, or other data received by the committee are strictly confidential. Any use, release, or publication of the information shall be done in such a way that no person is identifiable except as provided in Sections 26-33a-107 and 26-33a-109 .
(2) No member of the committee may be held civilly liable by reason of having released or published reports or compilations of data supplied to the committee, so long as the publication or release is in accordance with the requirements of Subsection (1).
(3) No person, corporation, or entity may be held civilly
liable for having provided data to the committee in accordance
with this chapter.
1996
26-33a-109 Exceptions to prohibition on disclosure of identifiable health data.
The committee may not disclose any identifiable health data unless:
(1) the individual has consented to the disclosure; or
(2) the disclosure is to any organization that has an
institutional review board, for a specified period, solely
for bona fide research and statistical purposes, determined
in accordance with department rules, and the department determines
that the data is required for the research and statistical
purposes proposed and the requesting individual or organization
enters into a written agreement satisfactory to the department
to protect the data in accordance with this chapter or other
applicable law and not permit further disclosure without
prior approval of the department. Any health data disclosed
shall be identified by control number only.
1990
26-33a-110 Penalties.
(1) Any use, release, or publication of health care data contrary to the provisions of Sections 26-33a-108 and 26-33a-109 is a class A misdemeanor.
(2) Subsection (1) does not relieve the person or organization
responsible for that use, release, or publication from civil
liability.
1990
26-33a-111 Health data not subject to subpoena or compulsory process - Exception.
Identifiable health data obtained in the course of activities
undertaken or supported under this chapter shall not be subject
to subpoena or similar compulsory process in any civil or
criminal, judicial, administrative, or legislative proceeding,
nor shall any individual or organization with lawful access
to identifiable health data under the provisions of this
chapter be compelled to testify with regard to such health
data, except that data pertaining to a party in litigation
may be subject to subpoena or similar compulsory process
in an action brought by or on behalf of such individual to
enforce any liability arising under this chapter.
1990
