Multicultural health.

Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, prohibits an agency, as defined, from disclosing personal information in a manner that would link the information to the individual to whom it pertains unless a specified exemption applies, including that the information is disclosed to a governmental entity if required by state or federal law. This bill would permit an agency to disclose personal information to the California Tribal Epidemiology Center (CTEC) for a specific purpose. Existing law establishes the Department of Health Care Access and Information 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 department to disclose this information to certain entities, including, among others, any California hospital and tribal epidemiology centers, except as specified. Existing law prohibits those entities 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. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a list of reportable communicable and noncommunicable diseases and conditions and specify the timeliness requirements related to the reporting of each disease and condition. Existing law also requires the State Department of Public Health to collect data on coccidioidomycosis cases from the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE) system and any other electronic data system used by a local health department. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to enter into a data sharing agreement with the CTEC for access to and use of the CalREDIE and the California Immunization Registry systems no later than January 1, 2024, and would prohibit the CTEC from disclosing the information, as described above.