Minnesota to collect patient data - Privacy - Brief Article

Health Management Technology, Jan, 2003

The Minnesota Health Department can now collect detailed medical information on virtually all its citizens to build a massive new databank, a judge ruled in early December. The ruling makes Minnesota one of only a few states that collect patient data from HMOs and insurance companies, although more than 40 states collect similar data from hospitals and other provider organizations. The state's health department said it needs more comprehensive data to track how well the healthcare system functions and to develop strategies to improve it. The department expects to begin collecting data from hospitals, HMOs and health plans early this year.

Information collected will include names, birth dates, addresses and other patient identifying information, but such "identifiers" will be stripped from the data before any information is released to the public. In his ruling, administrative law judge Allan Klein required the statute be rewritten to better define what constitutes an "identifier" and ensure it is removed before release.