Access to public health data; certified local health departments; safeguards

Access to public health data; certified local health departments; safeguards. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of State law to the contrary, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall, at the request of a certified local health department in this State, make any and all public health data related to residents of that certified local health department's jurisdiction available to that certified local health department for the purposes of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability. The commissioner, executive director, chief operating officer, chief medical officer, or equivalent executive leader of a certified local health department has express authority to request and receive such data. (b) A certified local health department shall have access to data under this Act only for the purposes identified in this Act. The Department of Public Health, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the requesting certified local health department shall protect the privacy and security of data obtained under this Act in accordance with applicable federal and State law and shall apply appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure the privacy and security of the data and protect the data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Appropriate safeguards include, but are not limited to, authentication and authorization of users prior to gaining access to data obtained under this Act. (c) A certified local health department shall apply appropriate controls to ensure that access to data under this Act is provided on a minimum, necessary basis and limited to only those persons whose public health duties and responsibilities require such access. Any data obtained under this Act and in the possession of a certified local health department shall be exempt from inspection and copying under subsection (pp) of Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act. Any data obtained under this Act shall not be admissible as evidence nor discoverable in any action of any kind in any court or before any tribunal, board, agency, or person. The access to or disclosure of any information or data by a certified local health department under this Act shall not waive or have any effect upon its nondiscoverability or inadmissibility. The identity of any individual identified in data obtained under this Act shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed publicly or in any action of any kind. (Source: P.A. 103-423, eff. 1-1-24.)