Minnesota Legislature
HF 2654
as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 11/18/2022 09:21am
Current Version - as introduced
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A bill for an act
relating to health; expanding maternal death studies conducted by the commissioner
of health to include maternal morbidity; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, section
145.901, as amended.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 145.901, as amended by Laws 2021, First
Special Session chapter 7, article 3, sections 37 to 39, is amended to read:
145.901 MATERNALnew text begin MORBIDITY ANDnew text end DEATH STUDIES.
Subdivision 1.
Purpose.
new text begin (a) new text end The commissioner of health may conduct maternalnew text begin morbidity
andnew text end death studies to assist the planning, implementation, and evaluation of medical, health,
and welfare service systems and to reduce the numbers of preventablenew text begin adversenew text end maternalnew text begin
outcomes andnew text end deaths in Minnesota.
new text begin
(b) For purposes of this section, "maternal morbidity" has the meaning given to severe
maternal morbidity by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and includes an
unexpected outcome of labor or delivery that results in significant short- or long-term
consequences to a woman's health.
new text end
Subd. 2.
Access to data.
(a) The commissioner of health has access to medical data as
defined in section 13.384, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), medical examiner data as defined
in section 13.83, subdivision 1, and health records created, maintained, or stored by providers
as defined in section 144.291, subdivision 2, paragraph (c), without the consent of the subject
of the data, and without the consent of the parent, spouse, other guardian, or legal
representative of the subject of the data, when the subject of the data is a woman who diednew text begin
or experienced morbiditiesnew text end during a pregnancy or within 12 months of a fetal death, a live
birth, or other termination of a pregnancy.
The commissioner has access only to medical data and health records related tonew text begin maternal
morbidities andnew text end deaths that occur on or after July 1, 2000, including the names of the
providers, clinics, or other health services such as family home visiting programs; the
women, infants, and children (WIC) program; prescription monitoring programs; and
behavioral health services, where care was received before, during, or related to the pregnancy
or death. The commissioner has access to records maintained bynew text begin family home visiting
programs; the women, infants, and children (WIC) program; the prescription monitoring
program; behavioral health services programs; substance use treatment facilities; law
enforcement; andnew text end a medical examiner, a coroner, or hospitals or to hospital discharge data,
for the purpose of providing the name and location of any pre-pregnancy, prenatal,new text begin
postpartum,new text end or other care received by the subject of the data up to one year after the end of
the pregnancy.
(b) The provider or responsible authority that creates, maintains, or stores the data shall
furnish the data upon the request of the commissioner. The provider or responsible authority
may charge a fee for providing the data, not to exceed the actual cost of retrieving and
duplicating the data.
(c) The commissioner shall make a good faith reasonable effort to notify thenew text begin subject of
the data, or the subject'snew text end parent, spouse, deleted text begin otherdeleted text end guardian, or legal representative deleted text begin of the subject
of the datadeleted text end before collecting data on the subject. For purposes of this paragraph, "reasonable
effort" means one notice is sent by certified mail to the last known address of thenew text begin subject
of the data, or the subject'snew text end parent, spouse, guardian, or legal representative informing the
recipient of the data collection and offering a public health nurse support visit if desired.
(d) The commissioner does not have access to coroner or medical examiner data that
are part of an active investigation as described in section 13.83.
(e) The commissioner may request and receive from a coroner or medical examiner the
name of the health care provider that provided prenatal, postpartum, or other health services
to the subject of the data.
(f) The commissioner may access Department of Human Services data to identify sources
of care and services to assist with the evaluation of welfare systems, including housing, to
reduce preventable maternal deaths.
(g) The commissioner may request and receive law enforcement reports or incident
reports related to the subject of the data.
Subd. 3.
Management of records.
After the commissioner has collected all data about
a subject of a maternalnew text begin morbidity ornew text end death study needed to perform the study, the data from
source records obtained under subdivision 2, other than data identifying the subject, must
be transferred to separate records to be maintained by the commissioner. Notwithstanding
section 138.17, after the data have been transferred, all source records obtained under
subdivision 2 possessed by the commissioner must be destroyed.
Subd. 4.
Classification of data.
(a) Data provided to the commissioner from source
records under subdivision 2, including identifying information on individual providers, data
subjects, or their children, and data derived by the commissioner under subdivision 3 for
the purpose of carrying out maternalnew text begin morbidity andnew text end death studies, are classified as confidential
data on individuals or confidential data on decedents, as defined in sections 13.02, subdivision
3, and 13.10, subdivision 1, paragraph (a).
(b) Information classified under paragraph (a) shall not be subject to discovery or
introduction into evidence in any administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding. Such
information otherwise available from an original source shall not be immune from discovery
or barred from introduction into evidence merely because it was utilized by the commissioner
in carrying out maternalnew text begin morbidity andnew text end death studies.
(c) Summary data on maternalnew text begin morbidity andnew text end death studies created by the commissioner,
which does not identify individual data subjects or individual providers, shall be public in
accordance with section 13.05, subdivision 7.
(d) Data provided by the commissioner of human services to the commissioner of health
under this section retain the same classification the data held when retained by the
commissioner of human services, as required under section 13.03, subdivision 4, paragraph
(c).
Subd. 5.
Maternalnew text begin Morbidity andnew text end Mortality Review Committee.
(a) The commissioner
of health shall convene a Maternalnew text begin Morbidity andnew text end Mortality Review Committee to conduct
maternalnew text begin morbidity andnew text end death study reviews, make recommendations, and publicly share
summary information. The commissioner shall appoint members to the review committee,
and membership may include but is not limited to medical examiners or coroners,
representatives of health care institutions that provide care to pregnant women, obstetric
and midwifery practitioners, Medicaid representatives, representatives of state agencies,
individuals from communities with disparate rates of maternalnew text begin morbidity andnew text end mortality, and
other subject matter experts as appropriate. Committee membership shall not exceed 25
members. The review committee shall review data from source records obtained under
subdivision 2, other than data identifying the subject or the provider.
(b) A person attending a Maternalnew text begin Morbidity andnew text end Mortality Review Committee meeting
shall not disclose what transpired at the meeting, except as necessary to carry out the purposes
of the review committee. The proceedings and records of the review committee are protected
nonpublic data as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 13. Discovery and introduction into
evidence in legal proceedings of case review committee proceedings and records, and
testimony in legal proceedings by review committee members and persons presenting
information to the review committee, shall occur in compliance with the requirements in
section 256.01, subdivision 12, paragraph (e).