2006 Minnesota Statutes

62J.321 DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING PROCEDURES.
    Subdivision 1. Data collection. (a) The commissioner shall collect data from health care
providers, health plan companies, and individuals in the most cost-effective manner, which does
not unduly burden them. The commissioner may require health care providers and health plan
companies to collect and provide patient health records and claim files, and cooperate in other
ways with the data collection process. The commissioner may also require health care providers
and health plan companies to provide mailing lists of patients. Patient consent shall not be
required for the release of data to the commissioner pursuant to sections 62J.301 to 62J.42 by any
group purchaser, health plan company, health care provider; or agent, contractor, or association
acting on behalf of a group purchaser or health care provider. Any group purchaser, health plan
company, health care provider; or agent, contractor, or association acting on behalf of a group
purchaser or health care provider, that releases data to the commissioner in good faith pursuant to
sections 62J.301 to 62J.42 shall be immune from civil liability and criminal prosecution.
(b) When a group purchaser, health plan company, or health care provider submits patient
identifying data to the commissioner pursuant to sections 62J.301 to 62J.42, and the data is
submitted to the commissioner in electronic form, or through other electronic means including,
but not limited to, the electronic data interchange system, the group purchaser, health plan
company, or health care provider shall submit the patient identifying data in encrypted form, using
an encryption method specified by the commissioner. Submission of encrypted data as provided in
this paragraph satisfies the requirements of section 144.335, subdivision 3b.
(c) The commissioner shall require all health care providers, group purchasers, and state
agencies to use a standard patient identifier and a standard identifier for providers and health
plan companies when reporting data under this chapter. The commissioner must encrypt patient
identifiers to prevent identification of individual patients and to enable release of otherwise private
data to researchers, providers, and group purchasers in a manner consistent with chapter 13 and
sections 62J.55 and 144.335. This encryption must ensure that any data released must be in a
form that makes it impossible to identify individual patients.
    Subd. 2. Failure to provide data. The intentional failure to provide the data requested
under this chapter is grounds for disciplinary or regulatory action against a regulated provider or
group purchaser. The commissioner may assess a fine against a provider or group purchaser who
refuses to provide data required by the commissioner. If a provider or group purchaser refuses to
provide the data required, the commissioner may obtain a court order requiring the provider or
group purchaser to produce documents and allowing the commissioner to inspect the records of
the provider or group purchaser for purposes of obtaining the data required.
    Subd. 3. Data collection and review. Data collection must continue for a sufficient time to
permit: adequate analysis by researchers and appropriate providers, including providers who will
be impacted by the data; feedback to providers; monitoring for changes in practice patterns; and
the data and research criteria of section 62J.311, subdivision 2, to be fulfilled.
    Subd. 4. Use of existing data. (a) The commissioner shall negotiate with private sector
organizations currently collecting health care data of interest to the commissioner to obtain
required data in a cost-effective manner and minimize administrative costs. The commissioner
shall attempt to establish links between the health care data collected to fulfill sections 62J.301 to
62J.42 and existing private sector data and shall consider and implement methods to streamline
data collection in order to reduce public and private sector administrative costs.
(b) The commissioner shall use existing public sector data, such as those existing for medical
assistance and Medicare, to the greatest extent possible. The commissioner shall establish links
between existing public sector data and consider and implement methods to streamline public
sector data collection in order to reduce public and private sector administrative costs.
    Subd. 5. Data classification. (a) Data collected to fulfill the data and research initiatives
authorized by sections 62J.301 to 62J.42 that identify individual patients or providers are private
data on individuals. Data not on individuals are nonpublic data. The commissioner shall establish
procedures and safeguards to ensure that data released by the commissioner is in a form that does
not identify specific patients, providers, employers, individual or group purchasers, or other
specific individuals and organizations, except with the permission of the affected individual or
organization, or as permitted elsewhere in this chapter.
(b) Raw unaggregated data collected from household and employer surveys used by the
commissioner to monitor the number of uninsured individuals, reasons for lack of insurance
coverage, and to evaluate the effectiveness of health care reform, are subject to the same data
classifications as data collected pursuant to sections 62J.301 to 62J.42.
(c) Notwithstanding sections 13.03, subdivisions 6 to 8; 13.10, subdivisions 1 to 4; and
138.17, data received by the commissioner pursuant to sections 62J.301 to 62J.42, shall retain
the classification designated under this section and shall not be disclosed other than pursuant
to this section.
(d) Summary data collected to fulfill the data and research initiatives authorized by sections
62J.301 to 62J.42 may be disseminated under section 13.05, subdivision 7. For the purposes of
this section, summary data includes nonpublic data not on individuals.
(e) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the commissioner may publish nonpublic or private data
collected pursuant to sections 62J.301 to 62J.42 on health care costs and spending, quality and
outcomes, and utilization for health care institutions, individual health care professionals and
groups of health care professionals, and group purchasers, with a description of the methodology
used for analysis. The commissioner may not make public any patient identifying information
except as specified in law. The commissioner shall not reveal the name of an institution, group of
professionals, individual health care professional, or group purchaser until after the institution,
group of professionals, individual health care professional, or group purchaser has had 21 days
to review the data and comment. The commissioner shall include comments received in the
release of the data.
(f) A provider or group purchaser may contest whether the data meets the criteria of section
62J.311, subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (2), in accordance with a contested case proceeding
as set forth in sections 14.57 to 14.62, subject to appeal in accordance with sections 14.63 to
14.68. To obtain a contested case hearing, the provider or group purchaser must make a written
request to the commissioner before the end of the time period for review and comment. Within ten
days of the assignment of an administrative law judge, the provider or group purchaser shall make
a clear showing to the administrative law judge of probable success in a hearing on the issue of
whether the data are accurate and valid and were collected based on the criteria of section 62J.311,
subdivision 2 , paragraph (a), clause (2). If the administrative law judge determines that the
provider or group purchaser has made such a showing, the data shall remain private or nonpublic
during the contested case proceeding and appeal. If the administrative law judge determines that
the provider or group purchaser has not made such a showing, the commissioner may publish
the data immediately, with comments received in the release of the data. The contested case
proceeding and subsequent appeal is not an exclusive remedy and any person may seek a remedy
pursuant to section 13.08, subdivisions 1 to 4, or as otherwise authorized by law.
    Subd. 5a. Prescription drug price disclosure data. Notwithstanding subdivisions 1 and 5,
data collected under section 62J.381 shall be classified as public data.
    Subd. 6. Rulemaking. The commissioner may adopt rules to implement sections 62J.301
to 62J.42.
    Subd. 7. Federal and other grants. The commissioner may seek federal funding, and
funding from private and other nonstate sources, for data and research initiatives.
    Subd. 8. Contracts and grants. To carry out the duties assigned in sections 62J.301 to
62J.42, the commissioner may contract with or provide grants to private sector entities. Any
contract or grant must require the private sector entity to maintain the data which it receives
according to the statutory provisions applicable to the data.
History: 1995 c 234 art 5 s 8; 1997 c 225 art 2 s 62; 1998 c 407 art 2 s 3; 1Sp2003 c 14
art 7 s 88