(a) The office shall establish a data release committee with a membership of at least 7 and no more than 11 members appointed by the director. Notwithstanding any other law, a quorum shall be achieved with one fewer member than one-half of the full membership.
(b) The appointed members shall include representatives of health care payers, providers, suppliers, purchasers, researchers, consumers, and labor. Representatives of program data submitters shall not constitute a majority of members. The members shall have knowledge and experience with health care data, privacy, and security.
(c) Each appointed member shall serve a term of two years, except one-half of the initial appointments shall be for one year. The director may remove a member for cause.
(d) (1) The data release committee shall make recommendations about all applications seeking either program data with direct personal identifiers or the transmission of standardized datasets, except for data requests from other state agencies. Upon request of the director, the data release committee shall also make recommendations about other applications for program data.
(2) In making recommendations about applications seeking program data, except for data requests from other state agencies, the data release committee shall consider whether the use of the data is consistent with the goals of the system, whether it provides greater transparency regarding health care costs, utilization, quality, or equity, or how the information may be used to inform policy decisions regarding the provision of quality health care, improving public health, reducing health disparities, advancing health coverage, or reducing health care costs.
(e) Upon request of the director, the data release committee shall generally advise the director about privacy and security matters related to the program and provide feedback on the program’s data application review processes and other matters.
(f) The chairperson of the data release committee shall be appointed from among the members by the director.
(g) A member of the data release committee appointed from outside state government shall serve without compensation, but shall receive a per diem for each day’s attendance at a data release committee meeting. All members shall be reimbursed for any actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with their duties as members of the committee.
(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 12, Sec. 31. (AB 80) Effective June 29, 2020.)