Iowa Admin. Code r. 641-106.3

Current through Regsiter Vol. 46, No. 26, June 12, 2024

Rule 641-106.3 - Confidentiality of released information

The information shall be collected, reproduced, released, and disclosed in a manner which ensures the anonymity of the patient who experiences a termination of pregnancy, the health care provider who identifies and diagnoses or induces a termination of pregnancy, and the hospital, clinic, or other health facility in which a termination of pregnancy is identified and diagnosed or induced. The department may share information with federal public health officials for the purpose of securing federal funding or conducting public health research. However, in sharing the information, the department shall not relinquish control of the information, and any agreement entered into by the department with federal public health officials to share information shall prohibit the use, reproduction, release, or disclosure of the information by federal public health officials in a manner which violates this chapter The department shall annually publish a demographic summary of the information obtained pursuant to this chapter, except that the department shall not reproduce, release, or disclose any information obtained pursuant to this chapter which reveals the identity of any patient, health care provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility, and shall ensure anonymity in the following ways:

(1) The department may use information concerning the report tracking number or concerning the identity of a reporting health care provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility only for purposes of information collection. The department shall not reproduce, release, or disclose this information for any purpose other than for use in annually publishing the demographic summary under this chapter

(2) The department shall enter the information, from any report of termination submitted, within 30 days of receipt of the report, and shall immediately destroy by shredding the report following entry of the information. However, entry of the information from a report shall not include any health care provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility identification information including, but not limited to, the confidential health care provider code, as assigned by the department.

(3) To protect confidentiality, the department shall limit release of information to release in an aggregate form which prevents identification of any individual patient, health care provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility.

The department shall establish and use a methodology to provide a statistically verifiable basis for any determination of the aggregate level at which information may be released so that the confidentiality of any person is not compromised. The methodology shall consider both the counts of the events for each item of information and the population that could be represented.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 641-106.3