390             1997 Session Laws of Kansas             Ch. 110

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

Section 1. As used in this act:

(a) ``Confidential data'' means any data which permits the identifi-
cation of individuals.

(b) ``Health care provider'' means a person licensed to practice med-
icine and surgery, a hospital as defined in K.S.A. 65-425 and amendments
thereto, any individual providing health care services or a pathology
laboratory.

(c) ``Secretary'' means the secretary of the department of health and
environment.

Sec. 2. (a) The secretary is hereby authorized to collect data pertain-
ing to all cancers occurring in Kansas into a registry which shall be the
cancer registry for the state of Kansas. The secretary shall adopt rules and
regulations which use the most efficient, least intrusive means for col-
lecting cancer data consistent with ensuring the quality, timeliness, com-
pleteness and confidentiality of the cancer registry. The rules and regu-
lations shall specify who shall report, the data elements to be reported,
timeliness of reporting and format for collecting and transmitting data to
the registry.

(b) Reporting by persons licensed to practice medicine or surgery and
other individuals providing health care services shall be limited to re-
sponding to requests for information regarding persons with cancer pre-
viously identified by other means.

Sec. 3. Uses of registry data which are not confidential in nature
include, but are not limited to:

(a) The production of statistical data which outline the frequency,
distribution, severity at diagnosis, treatment and survival for each type of
cancer;

(b) the design and implementation of cancer screening programs
which have been demonstrated to decrease cancer mortality;

Ch. 110             1997 Session Laws of Kansas             391

(c) assessing the cancer risk in the Kansas population;

(d) assessing the possible cancer risk of abortion;

(e) identifying previously unrecognized risk factors and causes of can-
cer;

(f) monitoring the potential health impact of environmental expo-
sures;

(g) monitoring health care access and utilization and effectiveness of
services for the prevention and treatment of cancer; and

(h) quantifying costs associated with cancer care.

Sec. 4. The information contained on the cancer registry shall be
confidential, shall not be disclosed except as provided in section 5 and
amendments thereto, shall not be subject to subpoena, discovery or in-
troduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding and shall not
be subject to the provisions of the Kansas open records act. The secretary
shall ensure that the confidentiality of any data collected which might be
used to identify an individual with cancer or a health care provider is
maintained. Storage of cancer data shall be in a manner which will protect
all information which uniquely identifies individuals.

Sec. 5. Confidential data collected pursuant to this act shall be se-
curely locked and used only for the following purposes:

(a) Ensuring the quality and completeness of the registry data.

(b) Investigating the nature and cause of abnormal clusterings of can-
cer and the possible cancer risk related to having an abortion.

(c) Offering through the personal physician, to persons with cancer,
access to cancer diagnostics and treatments not available except through
clinical trials. As long as such trials are conducted with the informed,
written consent of the cancer patient, the confidential data is approved
for release by the secretary for the purpose of such clinical trials and the
clinical trials are approved by the clinical entity.

(d) Releasing data back to the institution or individual which reported
cases as long as such release includes only those cases previously reported
by the requesting institution or individual.

(e) As part of an exchange agreement with another state, confidential
data collected on a resident of another state may be released to the cancer
registry of that person's state of residence if that state has confidentiality
requirements that provide assurance of protection of confidentiality
equivalent to that provided by Kansas under this act.

(f) Releasing information upon consent, in writing, of the person who
is the subject of the information, or if such person is under 18 years of
age, by such person's parent or guardian.

Sec. 6. The secretary shall designate a panel, including at least one
physician licensed to practice medicine in Kansas and the registry direc-
tor, which shall establish policies for release of nonconfidential data and

392             1997 Session Laws of Kansas             Ch. 110

shall review requests for the confidential registry data. No restrictions are
placed on release of data which are statistical in nature.

Sec. 7. Any health care provider, whether a person or institution,
who reports cancer information to the registry in good faith and without
malice, in accordance with the requirements of this statute, shall have
immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, which might otherwise be
incurred or imposed in an action resulting from such report. Notwith-
standing K.S.A. 60-427 and amendments thereto, there shall be no priv-
ilege preventing the furnishing of such information or reports as required
by this act by any health care provider. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to apply to the unauthorized disclosure of confidential or priv-
ileged information when such disclosure is due to gross negligence or
willful misconduct.

Sec. 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.

Approved April 10, 1997.