Section 128765 Of Part 5. Health Data From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 107. >> Part 5.
128765
. (a) The office shall maintain a file of all the reports
filed under this chapter at its Sacramento office. Subject to any
rules the office may prescribe, these reports shall be produced and
made available for inspection upon the demand of any person, and
shall also be posted on its Web site, with the exception of discharge
and encounter data that shall be available for public inspection
unless the office determines, pursuant to applicable law, that an
individual patient's rights of confidentiality would be violated.
(b) The reports published pursuant to Section 128745 shall include
an executive summary, written in plain English to the maximum extent
practicable, that shall include, but not be limited to, a discussion
of findings, conclusions, and trends concerning the overall quality
of medical outcomes, including a comparison to reports from prior
years, for the procedure or condition studied by the report. The
office shall disseminate the reports as widely as practical to
interested parties, including, but not limited to, hospitals,
providers, the media, purchasers of health care, consumer or patient
advocacy groups, and individual consumers. The reports shall be
posted on the office's Internet Web site.
(c) Copies certified by the office as being true and correct
copies of reports properly filed with the office pursuant to this
chapter, together with summaries, compilations, or supplementary
reports prepared by the office, shall be introduced as evidence,
where relevant, at any hearing, investigation, or other proceeding
held, made, or taken by any state, county, or local governmental
agency, board, or commission that participates as a purchaser of
health facility services pursuant to the provisions of a publicly
financed state or federal health care program. Each of these state,
county, or local governmental agencies, boards, and commissions shall
weigh and consider the reports made available to it pursuant to the
provisions of this subdivision in its formulation and implementation
of policies, regulations, or procedures regarding reimbursement
methods and rates in the administration of these publicly financed
programs.
(d) The office shall compile and publish summaries of individual
facility and aggregate data that do not contain patient-specific
information for the purpose of public disclosure. The summaries shall
be posted on the office's Internet Web site. The office may initiate
and conduct studies as it determines will advance the purposes of
this chapter.
(e) In order to assure that accurate and timely data are available
to the public in useful formats, the office shall establish a public
liaison function. The public liaison shall provide technical
assistance to the general public on the uses and applications of
individual and aggregate health facility data and shall provide the
director with an annual report on changes that can be made to improve
the public's access to data.