Public health planning. State health plan. Access to certain health care data. Regulations - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-7

The Department of Public Health (“department”) must create a “multiyear state health plan” that (1) assesses the state population’s health and health facility availability; (2) recommends resource allocation; (3) identifies “public health priorities;” (4) sets “quantitative goals and objectives” regarding the allocation of public health resources; and (5) assesses “the implications of new technology for the organization, delivery and equitable distribution of services”

The department may access “hospital discharge data, emergency room and ambulatory surgery encounter data, data on home health care agency client encounters and services, data from community health centers on client encounters and services and all data collected or compiled by the Office of Health Care Access division of the Department of Public Health” while creating the plan. However, such access must occur in compliance with federal and state patient record laws.  Additionally, the Public Health Commissioner must establish regulations to ensure the confidentiality of patient information collected during the state plan creation.