§ 131E-214. Title and purpose. - North Carolina Statutes

Article 11A.

Medical Care Data.

§ 131E‑214.  Title and purpose.

(a)        This Article is the Medical Care Data Act.

(b)        The General Assembly finds that, as a result of risingmedical care costs and the concern expressed by medical care providers, medicalcare consumers, third‑party payors, and health care planners involvedwith planning for the provision of medical care, there is an urgent andcontinuing need to understand patterns and trends in the use and cost ofmedical care services in this State. The purposes of this Article are asfollows:

(1)        To ensure that there is an information base containingmedical care data from throughout the State that can be used to improve theappropriate and efficient use of medical care services and maintain anacceptable quality of health care services in this State.

(2)        To ensure that the necessary medical care data is availableto university researchers, State public policymakers, and all other interestedpersons to improve the decision‑making process regarding access, identifiedneeds, patterns of medical care, charges, and use of appropriate medical careservices.

(3)        To ensure that a data processor receiving data under thisArticle protects patient confidentiality.

These purposes are to be accomplished by requiring that all hospitalsand freestanding ambulatory surgical facilities submit information necessaryfor a review and comparison of charges, utilization patterns, and quality ofmedical services to a data processor that maintains a statewide database ofmedical care data and that makes medical care data available to interestedpersons, including medical care providers, third‑party payors, medicalcare consumers, and health care planners. (1995, c. 517, s. 39(b).)