Prohibition against disclosure of information

An organization, in carrying out its functions under a contract entered into under this part, shall not be a Federal agency for purposes of the provisions of section 552 of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act). Any data or information acquired by any such organization in the exercise of its duties and functions shall be held in confidence and shall not be disclosed to any person except— An organization having a contract with the Secretary under this part shall provide in accordance with procedures and safeguards established by the Secretary, data and information— which may identify specific providers or practitioners as may be necessary— to assist appropriate Federal and State agencies recognized by the Secretary as having responsibility for identifying cases or patterns involving risks to the public health, which data and information shall be provided by the quality improvement organization to any such agency— It shall be unlawful for any person to disclose any such information described in subsection (a) other than for the purposes provided in subsections (a) and (b), and any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000, and imprisoned for not more than 6 months, or both, and shall be required to pay the costs of prosecution. No patient record in the possession of an organization having a contract with the Secretary under this part shall be subject to subpoena or discovery proceedings in a civil action. No document or other information produced by such an organization in connection with its deliberations in making determinations under section 1320c–3(a)(1)(B) or 1320c–5(a)(2) of this title shall be subject to subpoena or discovery in any administrative or civil proceeding; except that such an organization shall provide, upon request of a practitioner or other person adversely affected by such a determination, a summary of the organization’s findings and conclusions in making the determination. For purposes of this section and section 1320c–6 of this title, the term “organization with a contract with the Secretary under this part” includes an entity with a contract with the Secretary under section 1320c–3(a)(4)(C) 11 See References in Text note below. of this title.