§8708-A. Quality data

The board shall adopt rules regarding the collection of quality data. The board shall work with the Maine Quality Forum and the Maine Quality Forum Advisory Council established in Title 24-A, chapter 87, subchapter 2 to develop the rules. The rules must be based on the quality measures adopted by the Maine Quality Forum pursuant to Title 24-A, section 6951, subsection 2. The rules must specify the content, form, medium and frequency of quality data to be submitted to the organization. In the collection of quality data, the organization must minimize duplication of effort, minimize the burden on those required to provide data and focus on data that may be retrieved in electronic format from within a health care practitioner's office or health care facility. As specified by the rules, health care practitioners and health care facilities shall submit quality data to the organization. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 9. 22 MRSA §8711, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1999, c. 353, §16, is repealed.

Sec. 10. Rulemaking; routine technical. Rules adopted pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 8705-A, subsection 2 and section 8708-A revert to being routine technical rules, as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A, under the general rule-making power of the Board of Directors of the Maine Health Data Organization granted under Title 22, section 8704, subsection 4.

SUMMARY

This bill extends the statutory authority of the Maine Health Data Processing Center from September 1, 2005 to September 1, 2010. The bill also eliminates the major substantive rule requirement for the Maine Health Data Organization enforcement rules and the quality data rules, makes a number of modifications to provide consistency within the statutes and repeals language that is obsolete.