Law / United States / 
Alabama
Hospital Discharge Data Act: no public release of discharge data that could identify a patient
Alabama Hospital Discharge Data Act, Ala. Code secs. 22-21-413 to 22-21-415 (Act 2021-129)
In force since .
A de-identification rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- If you are the Alabama Hospital Association or the Alabama Department of Public Health, do not make available to the public any hospital discharge data or other information that reasonably could be expected to reveal the identity of any patient (section 22-21-413(c)).
- If you are the Alabama Department of Public Health, treat reported hospital discharge data as confidential and do not make it available to the public until you have processed and verified that it satisfies the requirements for public disclosure under the Act and applicable federal law (section 22-21-413(c)).
- If you are the Alabama Department of Public Health, adopt rules on the processed and verified discharge data made available to the public and on the release of limited data sets, and make the rules compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (section 22-21-413(d)).
- If you are the Alabama Department of Public Health, do not include in a report or study you prepare and release from discharge data any information obtained from the data in a form which could be used to identify any patient (section 22-21-414).
- If you are the Alabama Department of Public Health, publish a study or information based on discharge data only if it does not include information in a form which could be used to identify any patient or violate HIPAA (section 22-21-415).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What record it asks for
Logging duty
Sections 22-21-413 to 22-21-415 limit what the Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Department of Public Health may release from hospital discharge data. They require no log or record of releases, and state no territorial reach.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 22-21-413(c) of the Code of Alabama bars the Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Department of Public Health from making available to the public any hospital discharge data or other information that reasonably could be expected to reveal the identity of any patient.
Under section 22-21-413(c), hospital discharge data reported to the department is confidential and stays unavailable to the public until the department processes and verifies that it satisfies the requirements for public disclosure under the article and applicable federal law. Section 22-21-413(d) requires the department to adopt rules on the processed and verified discharge data made available to the public and on the release of limited data sets, and the rules must comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Section 22-21-414 requires that the reports and studies the department prepares and releases from hospital discharge data not include information obtained from the data in a form which could be used to identify any patient. Section 22-21-415 lets the department publish studies and information based on hospital discharge data only if they do not include information in a form which could be used to identify any patient or violate HIPAA.
The Alabama Department of Public Health publishes the text of the Hospital Discharge Data Act under the heading Alabama Hospital Discharge Data Act Effective .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app handles health records, processes personal data or processes de-identified data.
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