2000 Minnesota Statutes

     145.90 Fetal, infant, and maternal death studies. 

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

    Subd. 2.    Access to data.  (a) Until July 1, 2000, 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: 

    (1) a fetus that showed no signs of life at the time of 
 delivery, was 20 or more weeks of gestation at the time of 
 delivery, and was not delivered by an induced abortion; 

    (2) a liveborn infant that died within the first two years 
 of life; 

    (3) a woman who died during a pregnancy or within 12 months 
 of a fetal death, a live birth, or other termination of a 
 pregnancy; or 

    (4) the biological mother of a fetus or infant as described 
 in clause (1) or (2). 

    The commissioner only has access to medical data and health 
 records related to deaths or stillbirths that occur on or after 
 July 1, 1994.  With respect to data under clause (4), the 
 commissioner only has access to medical data and health records 
 that contain information that bears upon the pregnancy and the 
 outcome 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 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 subject of the data, or 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" includes: 

    (1) one visit by a public health nurse to the last known 
 address of the data subject, or the parent, spouse, or guardian; 
 and 

    (2) if the public health nurse is unable to contact the 
 data subject, or the parent, spouse, or guardian, one notice by 
 certified mail to the last known address of the data subject, or 
 the parent, spouse, or guardian. 

    (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 fetal, 
 infant, or 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 in 
 the hands of the commissioner must be destroyed. 

    Subd. 4.    Classification of data.  Data provided to or 
 created by the commissioner for the purpose of carrying out 
 fetal, infant, or maternal death studies, including identifying 
 information on individual providers or patients, are classified 
 as private data on individuals or nonpublic data on deceased 
 individuals, as defined in section 13.02, with the following 
 exceptions: 

    (1) summary data created by the commissioner, as defined in 
 section 13.02, subdivision 19; and 

    (2) data provided by the commissioner of human services, 
 which retains the classification it held when in the hands of 
 the commissioner of human services. 

    HIST: 1994 c 618 art 1 s 22; 1997 c 228 s 13; 1999 c 227 s 22