Wis. Stat. Ann. § 153.46 - Release of data by entity

The Department of Administration is required to contract with an entity to perform services with respect to collection, analysis and dissemination of health care information of hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.  This law governs the release of data by such entities.  The law requires that after completing the verification of data and review procedures, the entity release the data and comments in the form of standard or custom-designed reports.  The reports can include a patient’s zip code only if other identifying data elements are not released, the population density is high enough that the zip code wouldn’t identify a person, and certain steps are taken to mask the identity.
 
Once data verification and review procedures are completed, the entity is allowed to release special compilations of the data.  The entity must provide, free of charge, the department with the data necessary for epidemiological purposes.  The entity is allowed to release certain hospital-specific data, unless the public use data files can identify individual patients.  The entity must allow equal access to the data and reports to all requesters who pay the requisite fees, but such persons who buy the data are not allowed to release or sell the data sets.