N.J. Stat. tit. 52, ch. 9YY

in effect

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-1 Short title.

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Health Data Act." L.2001, c.192, s.1; amended 2010, c.87, s.10.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-2 Findings, declarations relative to availability of health data.

2. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. It is the intention of the Legislature to establish a single point of contact for members of the public to obtain health data; b. The purpose of this initiative is to compile health care access, quality and cost data produced within the State from public and private entities and maximize the usefulness of the data for the public without duplicating existing data collection efforts by State agencies; and c. It is anticipated that the expense to the State of compiling and disseminating the available and useful health data for the benefit of the public will be minimal and will be partially offset by subscriptions to routinely published documents of the Department of Health and Senior Services, the purchase of special reports of the Department of Health and Senior Services, and the receipt of grants to provide health data information to the public. L.2001, c.192, s.2; amended 2010, c.87, s.11.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-3 Definitions relative to availability of health data.

3. As used in this act: "Department" means the Department of Health and Senior Services. "Disclosure" means the disclosure of health data to a person or entity outside the department. "Health data" means any information, except vital statistics as defined in R.S.26:8-1, relating to the health status of people, the availability of health care resources and services, or the use and cost of these resources and services. Health data shall not include information that is created or received by members of the clergy or others who use spiritual means alone for healing. "Identifiable health data" means any item, collection or grouping of health data which makes the person supplying it or described in it identifiable. "Research and statistical purposes" means the performance of certain activities relating to health data, including, but not limited to: describing the group characteristics of persons or entities; analyzing the interrelationships among various characteristics of persons or entities; the conduct of statistical procedures or studies to improve the quality of health data; the design of sample surveys and the selection of samples of persons or entities; the preparation and publication of reports describing these activities; and other related functions; but excluding the use of health data for a person or entity to make a determination directly affecting the rights, benefits or entitlements of that person or entity. L.2001, c.192, s.3; amended 2010, c.87, s.12.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-5 Duties of the department.

5. a. The department may: (1) collect and maintain health data from State government agencies or other entities on: (a) the extent, nature and impact of illness and disability on the population of the State; (b) the determinants of health and health hazards; (c) health resources, including the extent of available personnel and resources; (d) utilization of health care; (e) health care costs and financing; and (f) other health-related matters; (2) undertake and support research, demonstrations and evaluations concerning new or improved methods for obtaining current data with respect to any of the health data described in paragraph (1) of this subsection; and (3) promote standards for health data that will facilitate the comparison of information and ease the burden of data preparation and reporting. b. The department may collect health data on behalf of other entities. c. The department shall collect health data only on a voluntary basis from persons and entities, except to the extent that specific statutory authority exists to compel the reporting of such data. When requesting health data from a person or entity, the agency shall notify the person or entity in writing as to the following: (1) whether the person or entity is required to supply the health data and any sanctions which may be imposed for noncompliance; (2) the purposes for which the health data is being collected; and (3) if the department intends to disclose identifiable health data for other than research and statistical purposes, the information to be disclosed, to whom it is to be disclosed, and for what purposes. d. No health data obtained by the department under this section may be used for any purpose other than the purpose for which they were supplied or for which the person or entity described in the data has otherwise consented. e. The department shall: (1) take such actions as may be necessary to assure that the health data which it obtains and maintains are accurate, timely and comprehensive, as well as specific, standardized and adequately analyzed and indexed; and (2) publish, disseminate and otherwise make available these data on as wide a basis as practicable. f. The department shall take such actions as are appropriate to effect the collection and compilation of health data produced within the State and to maximize the usefulness of the data collected. g. The department shall: (1) participate with federal, State and local government agencies in the design and implementation of a cooperative system of producing comparable and uniform health data at the federal, State and local levels; (2) undertake and support research, development, demonstrations and evaluations concerning such a cooperative system; and (3) assume its fair share of the data costs associated with implementing and maintaining such a system. L.2001, c.192, s.5; amended 2010, c.87, s.13.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-6 Disclosure of health data, conditions.

6. a. The department shall make no disclosure of any health data which identifies a person's health status or utilization of health care unless the person described in the data has consented to the disclosure. b. A person or entity to whom the department has disclosed health data shall make no disclosure of any health data which identifies a person's health status or utilization of health care unless the person described in the data has consented to the disclosure. c. No identifiable health data obtained by the department shall be subject to subpoena or similar compulsory process in a civil or criminal, judicial, administrative or legislative proceeding, nor shall a person or entity with lawful access to identifiable health data pursuant to this act be compelled to testify with regard to that data; except that data pertaining to a party in litigation may be subject to subpoena or similar compulsory process in an action brought by or on behalf of that party to enforce a liability arising under this act. L.2001, c.192, s.6; amended 2010, c.87, s.14.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-7 Security of health data.

7. The department shall take appropriate measures to protect the security of health data which it obtains, including: a. limiting access to the data to authorized persons; b. designating a person to be responsible for the physical security of the data; c. developing and implementing a system for monitoring the security of the data; d. periodically reviewing all health data to evaluate whether it is appropriate to remove identifying characteristics from the data; and e. developing a program for the routine scheduled destruction of all forms, records or electronic files maintained by the department which contain identifiable health data. L.2001, c.192, s.7; amended 2010, c.87, s.15.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-8 Additional powers of department.

8. To effectuate the purposes of P.L.2001, c.192 (C.52:9YY-1 et seq.), and in addition to any other powers authorized by law, the department shall have the authority, in accordance with State law, to: a. make and enter into contracts to purchase services and supplies and to hire consultants; b. develop and submit a proposed budget; c. accept gifts and charitable contributions; d. apply for, receive and expend grants; e. adopt regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the purposes of this act; f. establish charges for and collect payment from persons and entities for the provision of services, including the dissemination of health data; g. receive and expend appropriations; h. enter into a reimbursable work program with other State government agencies or private entities under which funds are transferred from the other agencies or entities to the department for the performance of activities pursuant to this act; and i. provide such other services and perform such other functions as the department deems necessary to fulfill its responsibilities under this act. L.2001, c.192, s.8; amended 2010, c.87, s.16.

N.J. Stat. § 52:9YY-9 Penalties for unauthorized disclosures; liability of department.

9. a. A person or entity whom the department determines has violated the provisions of section 6 of P.L.2001, c.192 (C.52:9YY-6), regarding the disclosure of health data shall be subject, in addition to any other penalties that may be prescribed by law, to: a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each such violation, but not to exceed $50,000 in the aggregate for multiple violations; or a civil penalty of not more than $250,000, if the department finds that these violations have occurred with such frequency as to constitute a general business practice. The penalty shall be sued for and collected in the name of the department in a summary proceeding in accordance with the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). b. The department or an entity acting on its behalf shall be liable to a person or entity injured by the intentional or negligent violation of the provisions of section 6 of P.L.2001, c.192 (C.52:9YY-6), in an amount equal to the damages sustained by the person or entity, together with the cost of the action and reasonable attorney's fees, as determined by the court. L.2001, c.192, s.9; amended 2010, c.87, s.17.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026