§ 9410. Health care database
(a)(1) The Board shall establish and maintain a unified health care database to enable the
Board to carry out its duties under this chapter, chapter 220 of this title, and Title
8, including:
(A) determining the capacity and distribution of existing resources;
(B) identifying health care needs and informing health care policy;
(C) evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs on improving patient outcomes;
(D) comparing costs between various treatment settings and approaches;
(E) providing information to consumers and purchasers of health care; and
(F) improving the quality and affordability of patient health care and health care coverage.
(2) [Repealed.]
(b) The database shall contain unique patient and provider identifiers and a uniform coding
system and shall reflect all health care utilization, costs, and resources in this
State and health care utilization and costs for services provided to Vermont residents
in another state.
(c) Health insurers, health care providers, health care facilities, and governmental agencies
shall file reports, data, schedules, statistics, or other information determined by
the Board to be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. Such information
may include:
(1) health insurance claims and enrollment information used by health insurers;
(2) information relating to hospitals filed under subchapter 7 of this chapter (hospital
budget reviews); and
(3) any other information relating to health care costs, prices, quality, utilization,
or resources required by the Board to be filed.
(d) The Board may by rule establish the types of information to be filed under this section
and the time and place and the manner in which such information shall be filed.
(e) [Repealed.]
(f) The Board shall adopt a confidentiality code to ensure that information obtained under
this section is handled in an ethical manner.
(g) Any person who knowingly fails to comply with the requirements of this section or
rules adopted pursuant to this section shall be subject to an administrative penalty
of not more than $1,000.00 per violation. The Board may impose an administrative penalty
of not more than $10,000.00 each for those violations the Board finds were willful.
In addition, any person who knowingly fails to comply with the confidentiality requirements
of this section or confidentiality rules adopted pursuant to this section and uses,
sells, or transfers the data or information for commercial advantage, pecuniary gain,
personal gain, or malicious harm shall be subject to an administrative penalty of
not more than $50,000.00 per violation. The powers vested in the Board by this subsection
shall be in addition to any other powers to enforce any penalties, fines, or forfeitures
authorized by law.
(h)(1) All health insurers shall electronically provide to the Board in accordance with standards
and procedures adopted by the Board by rule:
(A) their health insurance claims data, provided that the Board may exempt from all or
a portion of the filing requirements of this subsection data reflecting utilization
and costs for services provided in this State to residents of other states;
(B) cross-matched claims data on requested members, subscribers, or policyholders; and
(C) member, subscriber, or policyholder information necessary to determine third-party
liability for benefits provided.
(2) The collection, storage, and release of health care data and statistical information
that are subject to the federal requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) shall be governed exclusively by the regulations adopted
under in 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164.
(3)(A) The Board shall collaborate with the Agency of Human Services and participants in
the Agency’s initiatives in the development of a comprehensive health care information
system. The collaboration is intended to address the formulation of a description
of the data sets that will be included in the comprehensive health care information
system, the criteria and procedures for the development of limited-use data sets,
the criteria and procedures to ensure that HIPAA compliant limited-use data sets are
accessible, and a proposed time frame for the creation of a comprehensive health care
information system.
(B) To the extent allowed by HIPAA, the data shall be available as a resource for insurers,
employers, providers, purchasers of health care, and State agencies to continuously
review health care utilization, expenditures, and performance in Vermont. In presenting
data for public access, comparative considerations shall be made regarding geography,
demographics, general economic factors, and institutional size.
(C) Consistent with the dictates of HIPAA, and subject to such terms and conditions as
the Board may prescribe by rule, the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care shall
have access to the unified health care database for use in improving the quality of
health care services in Vermont. In using the database, the Vermont Program for Quality
in Health Care shall agree to abide by the rules and procedures established by the
Board for access to the data. The Board’s rules may limit access to the database to
limited-use sets of data as necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(D) Notwithstanding HIPAA or any other provision of law, the comprehensive health care
information system shall not publicly disclose any data that contain direct personal
identifiers. For the purposes of this section, “direct personal identifiers” include
information relating to an individual that contains primary or obvious identifiers,
such as the individual’s name, street address, e-mail address, telephone number, and
Social Security number.
(i) On or before January 15, 2018 and every three years thereafter, the Commissioner of
Health shall submit a recommendation to the General Assembly for conducting a survey
of the health insurance status of Vermont residents. The provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(d)(expiration of required reports) shall not apply to the report to be made under this
subsection.
(j)(1) As used in this section, and without limiting the meaning of subdivision 9402(8) of this title, the term “health insurer” includes:
(A) any entity defined in subdivision 9402(8) of this title;
(B) any third-party administrator, any pharmacy benefit manager, any entity conducting
administrative services for business, and any other similar entity with claims data,
eligibility data, provider files, and other information relating to health care provided
to a Vermont resident, and health care provided by Vermont health care providers and
facilities required to be filed by a health insurer under this section;
(C) any health benefit plan offered or administered by or on behalf of the State of Vermont
or an agency or instrumentality of the State; and
(D) any health benefit plan offered or administered by or on behalf of the federal government
with the agreement of the federal government.
(2) The Board may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this subsection, including
criteria for the required filing of such claims data, eligibility data, provider files,
and other information as the Board determines to be necessary to carry out the purposes
of this section and this chapter. (Added 1991, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 11, 1992; amended 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 16, 38(a); 2005, No. 71, § 312; 2005, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 14; 2005, No. 191 (Adj. Sess.), § 57; 2007, No. 15, § 22; 2007, No. 70, § 25; 2007, No. 80, § 19; 2009, No. 42, § 33; 2009, No. 61, § 3; 2009, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § I.27; 2011, No. 48, § 27, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; 2013, No. 79, § 40, eff. June 7, 2013; 2013, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 35; 2015, No. 54, § 35; 2021, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. June 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 228, eff. July 1, 2023.)