Delaware General Assembly

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE COLLECTION OF HEALTH INFORMATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Chapter 1, Title 16 of the Delaware Code by inserting the words “, Division of Professional Regulation” in the title of § 123, between the word “institutions” and the word “and”.

Section 2. Amend Chapter 1, Title 16, § 123 of the Delaware Code by adding a new subsection (c) to read as follows:

“(c) The Delaware Division of Public Health and the Delaware Health Care Commission shall be authorized to request and receive licensing data (including, but not limited to, names, addresses, and license type) to the extent that the data is collected and electronically stored for the purpose of issuing and maintaining professional licenses by the Division of Professional Regulation. Licensing data shall only be used for the purpose of conducting official state business, which may include measuring and tracking the supply of licensed health care professionals in the State of Delaware. The Delaware Division of Public Health and the Delaware Health Care Commission may share licensing data with their contractors to carry out the purpose of this subsection. The Boards affected shall include but not be limited to:

(i) Delaware State Board of Medical Practice;

(ii) Delaware State Board of Dental Examiners;

(iii) Delaware State Board of Nursing;

(iv) Delaware State Board of Professional Counselors;

(v) Delaware State Board of Examiners of Psychologists;

(vi) Delaware State Board of Clinical Social Work Examiners;

(vii) Delaware State Board of Podiatry;

(viii) Delaware State Board of Chiropractic;

(ix) Delaware State Board of Occupational Therapy Practice;

(x) Delaware State Board of Examiners in Optometry;

(xi) Delaware State Board of Pharmacy;

(xii) Delaware State Examining Board of Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers;

(xiii) Delaware State Board of Examiners of Speech/Language Pathologists, Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers;

(xiv) Delaware State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators; and

(xv) Delaware State Committee of Dietetics/Nutrition.”.

Section 3. Further Amend Chapter 1, Title 16, § 123 of the Delaware Code by adding thereto a new subsection (d) to read as follows:

“(d) All data must be submitted in a standardized electronic format as determined by the Division of Public Health in consultation with the Division of Professional Regulation and the Delaware Health Care Commission. Data must be submitted within twenty (20) business days of a request.”

Section 4. Further Amend Chapter 1, Title 16, § 123 of the Delaware Code by adding thereto a new subsection (e) to read as follows:

“(e) For the purposes of measuring, tracking and projecting supply and demand of health care professionals, the requesting entity shall provide to the Division of Professional Regulation any health workforce report developed from the data.”.

Section 5. Further Amend Chapter 1, Title 16, § 123 of the Delaware Code by adding thereto new subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:

“(f) Any individual data provided pursuant to this Section shall be confidential. No public employee, commission member, or contractor acting on behalf of a State agency or employee of such a contractor may:

(1) Use any data provided pursuant to this Section for any purpose other than the statistical, forecasting, and program purposes for which the data is furnished.

(2) Make public any of the data provided pursuant to this Section that would allow the identity of any individual to be inferred by either direct or indirect means.

(3) Retain any personal data as provided in this Section that is received by the Delaware Division of Public Health, the Delaware Health Care Commission or any contractor acting on behalf of these entities. Any personal data must be destroyed within thirty (30) days of completion of its intended purpose as described in this Section.

(g) An intentional violation of subsection (f) shall result in the imposition of a fine of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) nor more than Twenty-Thousand Dollars ($20,000) or imprisonment of not less than thirty (30) days nor more than six (6) months, or both. Justices of the Peace shall have jurisdiction of offenses under this Section.”.

Approved February 1, 2006