Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §8701, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 653, Pt. A, §2 and affected by §7, is amended to read:

§8701. Declaration of purpose

It is the intent of the Legislature that uniform systems of reporting health care information, including information on the quality and price of health care services, be established; that all providers and payors who are required to file reports do so in a manner consistent with these systems; and that, using the least restrictive means practicable for the protection of privileged health care information, public access to those reports be ensured.

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §8704, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2001, c. 457, §9, is further amended to read:

7. Annual report. The board shall prepare and submit an annual report on the operation of the organization, including any activity contracted for by the organization, and on health care trends, including quality of services by providers, to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters no later than February November 1st of each year. The report must include an annual accounting of all revenue received and expenditures incurred in the previous year and all revenue and expenditures planned for the next year. The report must include a list of persons or entities that requested data from the organization in the preceding year with a brief summary of the stated purpose of the request. Starting with the report required by November 1, 2003 and each year thereafter, the report must include the board's recommendations for:

A.__Legislative changes to this chapter needed to enable the board to obtain data that will yield information that will permit the consumer of health care services to evaluate the quality of services provided by each provider or the provider's employer;

B.__Legislative changes that allow for the establishment of objective measures of quality of services of providers; and

C.__Improving the quality of services of providers.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the duties of the Maine Health Data Organization to require the organization's annual report to be