Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 119.djvu/448

 119 STAT. 430

Public information.

VerDate 14-DEC-2004

08:19 Oct 26, 2006

PUBLIC LAW 109–41—JULY 29, 2005

‘‘(B) AGAINST STATE EMPLOYEES.—An entity that is a State or an agency of a State government may not assert the privilege described in subsection (a) unless before the time of the assertion, the entity or, in the case of and with respect to an agency, the State has consented to be subject to an action described in subparagraph (A), and that consent has remained in effect. ‘‘(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed— ‘‘(1) to limit the application of other Federal, State, or local laws that provide greater privilege or confidentiality protections than the privilege and confidentiality protections provided for in this section; ‘‘(2) to limit, alter, or affect the requirements of Federal, State, or local law pertaining to information that is not privileged or confidential under this section; ‘‘(3) except as provided in subsection (i), to alter or affect the implementation of any provision of the HIPAA confidentiality regulations or section 1176 of the Social Security Act (or regulations promulgated under such section); ‘‘(4) to limit the authority of any provider, patient safety organization, or other entity to enter into a contract requiring greater confidentiality or delegating authority to make a disclosure or use in accordance with this section; ‘‘(5) as preempting or otherwise affecting any State law requiring a provider to report information that is not patient safety work product; or ‘‘(6) to limit, alter, or affect any requirement for reporting to the Food and Drug Administration information regarding the safety of a product or activity regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. ‘‘(h) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this part prohibits any person from conducting additional analysis for any purpose regardless of whether such additional analysis involves issues identical to or similar to those for which information was reported to or assessed by a patient safety organization or a patient safety evaluation system. ‘‘(i) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF HIPAA CONFIDENTIALITY REGULATIONS TO PATIENT SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS.—For purposes of applying the HIPAA confidentiality regulations— ‘‘(1) patient safety organizations shall be treated as business associates; and ‘‘(2) patient safety activities of such organizations in relation to a provider are deemed to be health care operations (as defined in such regulations) of the provider. ‘‘(j) REPORTS ON STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY.— ‘‘(1) DRAFT REPORT.—Not later than the date that is 18 months after any network of patient safety databases is operational, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director, shall prepare a draft report on effective strategies for reducing medical errors and increasing patient safety. The draft report shall include any measure determined appropriate by the Secretary to encourage the appropriate use of such strategies, including use in any federally funded programs. The Secretary shall make the draft report available for public comment and submit the draft report to the Institute of Medicine for review.

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