Hospitals in Pennsylvania must have a qualified electronic surveillance system in place that allows for the extraction of existing clinical data on an ongoing, constant basis.1  The data must all be capable of being translated into a uniform set that can be analyzed on a population-wide basis, and that can assist the hospital in reducing the incidence of health care associated infections.2

        Pennsylvania also has a “right to know law” that covers the state’s health care cost containment council.  The law requires that the containment council provide special reports derived from raw data and a means for computer-to-computer access to its raw data to any entity purchasing health insurance for its employees or members.3  Despite this law, the council may not disclose raw data that could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of an individual patient, raw data that related to actual payments, discounts or allowances between purchasers and providers, and raw data that does not simultaneously disclose payment, provider quality and provider service effectiveness.4