2005 Minnesota Statutes

     145.901 Maternal death studies. 

    Subdivision 1.    Purpose.  The commissioner of health 
 may conduct maternal death studies to assist the planning, 
 implementation, and evaluation of medical, health, and welfare 
 service systems and to reduce the numbers of preventable 
 maternal deaths in Minnesota. 

    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 
 144.335, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), 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 died 
 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 to deaths that occur on or after July 1, 2000.  

    (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 the parent, spouse, other guardian, or legal 
 representative of the subject of the data 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 the 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. 

    Subd. 3.    Management of records.  After the 
 commissioner has collected all data about a subject of a 
 maternal 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 
 maternal 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 
 maternal death studies. 

    (c) Summary data on maternal 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. 

    HIST: 2001 c 211 s 3