Health data disclosure: health policy organizations and labor unions.

Existing law establishes the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law requires an organization that operates, conducts, owns, or maintains a health facility, each hospital, and each general acute care hospital and freestanding ambulatory surgery clinic to make and file with the office certain information regarding patients that is recorded on a Hospital Discharge Abstract Data Record, an Emergency Care Data Record, and an Ambulatory Surgery Data Record, respectively, as described. The information includes, among other things, the date of birth, race, date of services, and principal diagnosis of the patient. Existing law requires the office to disclose this information to certain entities, including any California hospital and any local health department or local health officer in California, except as specified. Existing law prohibits a hospital from disclosing that information except in response to a court order, search warrant, or subpoena, or as otherwise required or permitted by specified federal law. This bill would also require the office to disclose the information to any nonprofit health policy organization and any labor union and would prohibit those entities from disclosing the information, as described above.