1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health; establishing maternal death 
  1.3             reviews; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
  1.4             13.3806, by adding a subdivision; 144.335, subdivision 
  1.5             1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.6             chapter 145; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.7             sections 13.3806, subdivision 19; and 145.90. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 13.3806, is 
  1.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 19a.  [MATERNAL DEATH.] Access to and classification 
  1.12  of medical data and health records related to maternal death 
  1.13  studies are governed by section 145.901. 
  1.14     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.335, 
  1.15  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.16     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For the purposes of this 
  1.17  section, the following terms have the meanings given them: 
  1.18     (a) "Patient" means a natural person who has received 
  1.19  health care services from a provider for treatment or 
  1.20  examination of a medical, psychiatric, or mental condition, the 
  1.21  surviving spouse and parents of a deceased patient, or a person 
  1.22  the patient appoints in writing as a representative, including a 
  1.23  health care agent acting pursuant to chapter 145C, unless the 
  1.24  authority of the agent has been limited by the principal in the 
  1.25  principal's health care directive.  Except for minors who have 
  1.26  received health care services pursuant to sections 144.341 to 
  2.1   144.347, in the case of a minor, patient includes a parent or 
  2.2   guardian, or a person acting as a parent or guardian in the 
  2.3   absence of a parent or guardian. 
  2.4      (b) "Provider" means (1) any person who furnishes health 
  2.5   care services and is regulated to furnish the services pursuant 
  2.6   to chapter 147, 147A, 147B, 147C, 147D, 148, 148B, 148C, 150A, 
  2.7   151, 153, or 153A, or Minnesota Rules, chapter 4666; (2) a home 
  2.8   care provider licensed under section 144A.46; (3) a health care 
  2.9   facility licensed pursuant to this chapter or chapter 144A; (4) 
  2.10  a physician assistant registered under chapter 147A; and (5) an 
  2.11  unlicensed mental health practitioner regulated pursuant to 
  2.12  sections 148B.60 to 148B.71. 
  2.13     (c) "Individually identifiable form" means a form in which 
  2.14  the patient is or can be identified as the subject of the health 
  2.15  records. 
  2.16     Sec. 3.  [145.901] [MATERNAL DEATH STUDIES.] 
  2.17     Subdivision 1.  [PURPOSE.] The commissioner of health may 
  2.18  conduct maternal death studies to assist the planning, 
  2.19  implementation, and evaluation of medical, health, and welfare 
  2.20  service systems and to reduce the numbers of preventable 
  2.21  maternal deaths in Minnesota. 
  2.22     Subd. 2.  [ACCESS TO DATA.] (a) The commissioner of health 
  2.23  has access to medical data as defined in section 13.384, 
  2.24  subdivision 1, paragraph (b), medical examiner data as defined 
  2.25  in section 13.83, subdivision 1, and health records created, 
  2.26  maintained, or stored by providers as defined in section 
  2.27  144.335, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), without the consent of 
  2.28  the subject of the data, and without the consent of the parent, 
  2.29  spouse, other guardian, or legal representative of the subject 
  2.30  of the data, when the subject of the data is a woman who died 
  2.31  during a pregnancy or within 12 months of a fetal death, a live 
  2.32  birth, or other termination of a pregnancy. 
  2.33     The commissioner has access only to medical data and health 
  2.34  records related to deaths that occur on or after July 1, 2000.  
  2.35     (b) The provider or responsible authority that creates, 
  2.36  maintains, or stores the data shall furnish the data upon the 
  3.1   request of the commissioner.  The provider or responsible 
  3.2   authority may charge a fee for providing the data, not to exceed 
  3.3   the actual cost of retrieving and duplicating the data. 
  3.4      (c) The commissioner shall make a good faith reasonable 
  3.5   effort to notify the parent, spouse, other guardian, or legal 
  3.6   representative of the subject of the data before collecting data 
  3.7   on the subject.  For purposes of this paragraph, "reasonable 
  3.8   effort" means one notice is sent by certified mail to the last 
  3.9   known address of the parent, spouse, guardian, or legal 
  3.10  representative informing the recipient of the data collection 
  3.11  and offering a public health nurse support visit if desired.  
  3.12     (d) The commissioner does not have access to coroner or 
  3.13  medical examiner data that are part of an active investigation 
  3.14  as described in section 13.83. 
  3.15     Subd. 3.  [MANAGEMENT OF RECORDS.] After the commissioner 
  3.16  has collected all data about a subject of a maternal death study 
  3.17  needed to perform the study, the data from source records 
  3.18  obtained under subdivision 2, other than data identifying the 
  3.19  subject, must be transferred to separate records to be 
  3.20  maintained by the commissioner.  Notwithstanding section 138.17, 
  3.21  after the data have been transferred, all source records 
  3.22  obtained under subdivision 2 possessed by the commissioner must 
  3.23  be destroyed. 
  3.24     Subd. 4.  [CLASSIFICATION OF DATA.] Data provided to or 
  3.25  created by the commissioner for carrying out maternal death 
  3.26  studies, including identifying information on individual 
  3.27  providers or patients, are classified as private data on 
  3.28  individuals or nonpublic data on deceased individuals, as 
  3.29  defined in section 13.02, with the following exceptions: 
  3.30     (1) summary data created by the commissioner, as defined in 
  3.31  section 13.02, subdivision 19; and 
  3.32     (2) data provided by the commissioner of human services, 
  3.33  which retain the classification they held when possessed by the 
  3.34  commissioner of human services. 
  3.35     Sec. 4.  [REPEALER.] 
  3.36     Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 13.3806, subdivision 19; 
  4.1   and 145.90, are repealed.