The Florida Senate

408.061  Data collection; uniform systems of financial reporting; information relating to physician charges; confidentiality of patient records; immunity.--

(1)  The agency may require the submission by health care facilities, health care providers, and health insurers of data necessary to carry out the agency's duties. Specifications for data to be collected under this section shall be developed by the agency with the assistance of technical advisory panels including representatives of affected entities, consumers, purchasers, and such other interested parties as may be determined by the agency.

(a)  Data to be submitted by health care facilities may include, but are not limited to: case-mix data, patient admission or discharge data with patient and provider-specific identifiers included, actual charge data by diagnostic groups, financial data, accounting data, operating expenses, expenses incurred for rendering services to patients who cannot or do not pay, interest charges, depreciation expenses based on the expected useful life of the property and equipment involved, and demographic data. Data may be obtained from documents such as, but not limited to: leases, contracts, debt instruments, itemized patient bills, medical record abstracts, and related diagnostic information.

(b)  Data to be submitted by health care providers may include, but are not limited to: Medicare and Medicaid participation, types of services offered to patients, amount of revenue and expenses of the health care provider, and such other data which are reasonably necessary to study utilization patterns.

(c)  Data to be submitted by health insurers may include, but are not limited to: claims, premium, administration, and financial information.

(d)  Data required to be submitted by health care facilities, health care providers, or health insurers shall not include specific provider contract reimbursement information. However, such specific provider reimbursement data shall be reasonably available for onsite inspection by the agency as is necessary to carry out the agency's regulatory duties. Any such data obtained by the agency as a result of onsite inspections may not be used by the state for purposes of direct provider contracting and are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

(e)  A requirement to submit data shall be adopted by rule if the submission of data is being required of all members of any type of health care facility, health care provider, or health insurer. Rules are not required, however, for the submission of data for a special study mandated by the Legislature or when information is being requested for a single health care facility, health care provider, or health insurer.

(2)  The agency shall, by rule, after consulting with appropriate professional and governmental advisory bodies and holding public hearings and considering existing and proposed systems of accounting and reporting utilized by health care facilities, specify a uniform system of financial reporting for each type of facility based on a uniform chart of accounts developed after considering any chart of accounts developed by the national association for such facilities and generally accepted accounting principles. Such systems shall, to the extent feasible, use existing accounting systems and shall minimize the paperwork required of facilities. This provision shall not be construed to authorize the agency to require health care facilities to adopt a uniform accounting system. As a part of such uniform system of financial reporting, the agency may require the filing of any information relating to the cost to the provider and the charge to the consumer of any service provided in such facility, except the cost of a physician's services which is billed independently of the facility.

(3)  When more than one licensed facility is operated by the reporting organization, the information required by this section shall be reported for each facility separately.

(4)

(a)  Within 120 days after the end of its fiscal year, each health care facility shall file with the agency, on forms adopted by the agency and based on the uniform system of financial reporting, its actual financial experience for that fiscal year, including expenditures, revenues, and statistical measures. Such data may be based on internal financial reports which are certified to be complete and accurate by the provider. However, hospitals' actual financial experience shall be their audited actual experience. Nursing homes that do not participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs shall also submit audited actual experience. Every nursing home shall submit to the agency, in a format designated by the agency, a statistical profile of the nursing home residents. The agency, in conjunction with the Department of Elderly Affairs and the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, shall review these statistical profiles and develop recommendations for the types of residents who might more appropriately be placed in their homes or other noninstitutional settings. The agency shall include its findings in the final Florida Health Plan which must be submitted to the Legislature by December 31, 1993. Included in the findings shall be outcome data and cost differential data as part of patient profiles.

(b)  Each nursing home shall also submit a schedule of the charges in effect at the beginning of the fiscal year and any changes that were made during the fiscal year. A nursing home which is certified under Title XIX of the Social Security Act and files annual Medicaid cost reports may substitute copies of such reports and any Medicaid audits to the agency in lieu of a report and audit required under this subsection. For such facilities, the agency may require only information in compliance with this chapter that is not contained in the Medicaid cost report. Facilities that are certified under Title XVIII, but not Title XIX, of the Social Security Act must submit a report as developed by the agency. This report shall be substantially the same as the Medicaid cost report and shall not require any more information than is contained in the Medicare cost report unless that information is required of all nursing homes. The audit under Title XVIII shall satisfy the audit requirement under this subsection.

(5)  In addition to information submitted in accordance with subsection (4), each nursing home shall track and file with the agency, on a form adopted by the agency, data related to each resident's admission, discharge, or conversion to Medicaid; health and functional status; plan of care; and other information pertinent to the resident's placement in a nursing home.

(6)  Any nursing home which assesses residents a separate charge for personal laundry services shall submit to the agency data on the monthly charge for such services, excluding drycleaning. For facilities that charge based on the amount of laundry, the most recent schedule of charges and the average monthly charge shall be submitted to the agency.

(7)  The agency may require other reports based on the uniform system of financial reporting necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.

(8)  Portions of patient records obtained or generated by the agency containing the name, residence or business address, telephone number, social security or other identifying number, or photograph of any person or the spouse, relative, or guardian of such person, or any other identifying information which is patient-specific or otherwise identifies the patient, either directly or indirectly, are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

(9)  The identity of any health care provider, health care facility, or health insurer who submits any data which is proprietary business information to the agency pursuant to the provisions of this section shall remain confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. As used in this section, "proprietary business information" shall include, but not be limited to, information relating to specific provider contract reimbursement information; information relating to security measures, systems, or procedures; and information concerning bids or other contractual data, the disclosure of which would impair efforts to contract for goods or services on favorable terms or would injure the affected entity's ability to compete in the marketplace. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, any information obtained or generated pursuant to the provisions of s. 407.61, either by the ²Health Care Cost Containment Board or by the Agency for Health Care Administration upon transfer to that agency of the duties and functions of the ²Health Care Cost Containment Board, is not confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Such proprietary business information may be used in published analyses and reports or otherwise made available for public disclosure in such manner as to preserve the confidentiality of the identity of the provider. This exemption shall not limit the use of any information used in conjunction with investigation or enforcement purposes under the provisions of s. 455.225.

(10)  No health care facility, health care provider, health insurer, or other reporting entity or its employees or agents shall be held liable for civil damages or subject to criminal penalties either for the reporting of patient data to the board or for the release of such data by the board as authorized by this chapter.

(11)  The agency shall be the primary source for collection and dissemination of health care data. No other agency of state government may gather data from a health care provider licensed or regulated under this chapter without first determining if the data is currently being collected by the agency and affirmatively demonstrating that it would be more cost-effective for an agency of state government other than the agency to gather the health care data. The secretary shall ensure that health care data collected by the divisions within the agency is coordinated. It is the express intent of the Legislature that all health care data be collected by a single source within the agency and that other divisions within the agency, and all other agencies of state government, obtain data for analysis, regulation, and public dissemination purposes from that single source. Confidential information may be released to other governmental entities or to parties contracting with the agency to perform agency duties or functions as needed in connection with the performance of the duties of the receiving entity. The receiving entity or party shall retain the confidentiality of such information as provided for herein.

(12)  The agency shall cooperate with local health councils and the state health planning agency with regard to health care data collection and dissemination and shall cooperate with state agencies in any efforts to establish an integrated health care database.

(13)  It is the policy of this state that philanthropic support for health care should be encouraged and expanded, especially in support of experimental and innovative efforts to improve the health care delivery system.

(14)  For purposes of determining reasonable costs of services furnished by health care facilities, unrestricted grants, gifts, and income from endowments shall not be deducted from any operating costs of such health care facilities, and, in addition, the following items shall not be deducted from any operating costs of such health care facilities:

(a)  An unrestricted grant or gift, or income from such a grant or gift, which is not available for use as operating funds because of its designation by the health care facility's governing board.

(b)  A grant or similar payment which is made by a governmental entity and which is not available, under the terms of the grant or payment, for use as operating funds.

(c)  The sale or mortgage of any real estate or other capital assets of the health care facility which the health care facility acquired through a gift or grant and which is not available for use as operating funds under the terms of the gift or grant or because of its designation by the health care facility's governing board, except for recovery of the appropriate share of gains and losses realized from the disposal of depreciable assets.

History.--s. 68, ch. 92-33; s. 14, ch. 93-129; ss. 3, 4, ch. 95-201; s. 248, ch. 96-406; s. 40, ch. 97-98.

¹Note.--The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was redesignated as the Department of Children and Family Services by s. 5, ch. 96-403, and the Department of Health was created by s. 8, ch. 96-403.

²Note.--Sections 82 and 83, ch. 92-33, abolished the Health Care Cost Containment Board and transferred all powers, duties and functions, records, personnel, property, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds of the board to the Agency for Health Care Administration.