65-177. Study of diseases and deaths from maternal, perinatal and anesthetic causes; "data" defined; medical records; confidentiality, use; liability, immunity; admissibility as evidence; reports, contents. (a) (1) "Data," as used in K.S.A. 65-177 through 65-179, and amendments thereto, includes all facts, information, records of interviews, written reports, statements, notes or memoranda secured in connection with an authorized medical research study.
(2) "Maternal death" means the death of any woman from any cause while pregnant or within one calendar year of the end of any pregnancy, regardless of the duration of the pregnancy or the site of the end of the pregnancy.
(b) (1) The secretary of health and environment shall have access to all law enforcement investigative information regarding a maternal death in Kansas, any autopsy records and coroner's investigative records relating to the death, any medical records of the mother and any records of the Kansas department for children and families or any other state social service agency that has provided services to the mother.
(2) (A) The secretary may apply to the district court for the issuance of, and the district court may issue, a subpoena to compel the production of any books, records or papers relevant to the cause of any maternal death being investigated by the secretary. Any books, records or papers received by the secretary pursuant to the subpoena shall be confidential and privileged information and not subject to disclosure.
(B) The provisions of this paragraph providing for confidentiality of records shall expire on July 1, 2023, unless the legislature acts to reenact such provisions. The legislature shall review the provisions of this paragraph pursuant to K.S.A. 45-229, and amendments thereto, prior to July 1, 2023.
(c) The secretary of health and environment shall:
(1) Identify maternal death cases;
(2) review medical records and other relevant data;
(3) contact family members and other affected or involved persons to collect additional relevant data;
(4) consult with relevant experts to evaluate the records and data collected;
(5) make determinations regarding the preventability of maternal deaths;
(6) develop recommendations and actionable strategies to prevent maternal deaths; and
(7) disseminate findings and recommendations to the legislature, healthcare providers, healthcare facilities and the general public.
(d) (1) Healthcare providers licensed pursuant to chapters 65 and 74 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, medical care facilities licensed pursuant to article 4 of chapter 65 of the Kansas Statues Annotated, and amendments thereto, maternity centers licensed pursuant to article 5 of chapter 65 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, and pharmacies licensed pursuant to article 16 of chapter 65 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, shall provide reasonable access to all relevant medical records associated with a maternal death case under review by the secretary.
(2) A healthcare provider, medical care facility, maternity center or pharmacy providing access to medical records pursuant to this section shall not be held liable for civil damages or be subject to criminal or disciplinary administrative action for good faith efforts to provide such records.
(e) (1) Information, records, reports, statements, notes, memoranda or other data collected pursuant to this section shall be privileged and confidential and shall not be admissible as evidence in any action of any kind in any court or before another tribunal, board, agency or person. Such information, records, reports, statements, notes, memoranda or other data shall not be exhibited nor their contents disclosed in any way, in whole or in part, by any officer or representative of the department of health and environment or any other person, except as may be necessary for the purpose of furthering the investigation of the case to which they relate. No person participating in such investigation shall disclose, in any manner, the information so obtained.
(2) The provisions of this subsection providing for confidentiality of records shall expire on July 1, 2023, unless the legislature acts to reenact such provisions. The legislature shall review the provisions of this subsection pursuant to K.S.A. 45-229, and amendments thereto, prior to July 1, 2023.
(f) (1) All proceedings and activities of the secretary or representatives of the secretary under this section, opinions of the secretary or representatives of the secretary formed as a result of such proceedings and activities and records obtained, created or maintained pursuant to this section, including records of interviews, written reports and statements procured by the secretary or any other person, agency or organization acting jointly or under contract with the department of health and environment in connection with the requirements of this section, shall be confidential and not subject to the provisions of the open records act or the open meetings act or subject to subpoena, discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or otherwise restrict the right to discover or use in any civil or criminal proceeding any document or record that is available and entirely independent of proceedings and activities of the secretary or representatives of the secretary under this section.
(2) The secretary or representatives of the secretary shall not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding the information presented in or opinions formed as a result of an investigation. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the secretary or representatives of the secretary from testifying to information obtained independently of this section or that is public information.
(3) The provisions of this subsection providing for confidentiality of records shall expire on July 1, 2023, unless the legislature acts to reenact such provisions. The legislature shall review the provisions of this subsection pursuant to K.S.A. 45-229, and amendments thereto, prior to July 1, 2023.
(g) Reports of aggregate non-individually identifiable data shall be compiled on a routine basis for distribution in an effort to further study the causes and problems associated with maternal deaths. Reports shall be distributed to healthcare providers and medical care facilities and other persons necessary to reduce the maternal death rate.
(h) The secretary of health and environment shall receive data secured in connection with medical research studies conducted for the purpose of reducing morbidity or mortality from maternal, perinatal and anesthetic causes. Such studies may be conducted by the secretary of health and environment and staff or with other qualified persons, agencies or organizations. If such studies are conducted with any funding not provided by the state of Kansas, then the source of such funding shall be clearly identified in such study. Where authorization to conduct such a study is granted by the secretary of health and environment, all data voluntarily made available to the secretary of health and environment in connection with such study shall be treated as confidential and shall be used solely for purposes of medical research. Research files and opinions expressed upon the evidence found in such research shall not be admissible as evidence in any action in any court or before any other tribunal, except that statistics or tables resulting from such data shall be admissible and may be received as evidence. This section shall not affect the right of any patient or such patient's guardians, representatives or heirs to require hospitals, physicians, sanatoriums, rest homes, nursing homes or other persons or agencies to furnish such patient's hospital record to such patient's representatives upon written authorization, or the admissibility in evidence thereof.
(i) No employee of the secretary of health and environment shall interview any patient named in any such report, nor any relative of any such patient, unless otherwise provided in K.S.A. 65-2422d, and amendments thereto. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the publication by the secretary of health and environment or a duly authorized cooperating person, agency or organization, of final reports or statistical compilations derived from morbidity or mortality studies, which reports or compilations do not identify individuals, associations, corporations or institutions which were the subjects of such studies, or reveal sources of information.
History: L. 1961, ch. 289, § 1; L. 1974, ch. 352, § 46; L. 2010, ch. 143, § 1; L. 2018, ch. 66, § 2; July 1.
Structure Kansas Statutes
Article 1 - Secretary Of Health And Environment, Activities
65-102 Registration of vital statistics and diseases; forms.
65-102b Confidentiality of information concerning noninfectious diseases; disclosure.
65-103 Special sanitary service.
65-103a Authority to receive federal or other funds.
65-103b Federal title X funding priorities for family planning services.
65-116b Tuberculosis suspects; order by health officer; scope of examination; care and treatment.
65-116c Precautions to prevent spread of infection, when; investigations.
65-116d Failure to do required acts; proceedings by county attorney.
65-116e Commitment to medical care facility; restraint; discharge, when; recommitment.
65-116g Penalty for violations of act or regulations.
65-116h Preservation of individual rights.
65-116i Expenses of care, maintenance and treatment; payment from state funds.
65-116l Use of funds for care, maintenance or treatment; limitations.
65-116m Recovery of cost of care, maintenance or treatment from third parties.
65-122 Schools and child care facilities; non-admissions and exclusions; readmissions, when.
65-126 Quarantine of city, township or county.
65-129 Penalties for unlawful acts.
65-129d Same; unlawful discharge from employment.
65-153 Child hygiene; duties of division of public health.
65-153b Newly born infant; treatment of eyes.
65-153c Same; duty of physician and others.
65-153d Same; rules and regulations.
65-153e Same; penalty for violating 65-153b to 65-153e.
65-157 Same; analysis by office of laboratory services; disposition of fees.
65-159 Abatement of nuisances; failure to remove, penalties.
65-160 Same; duty of county attorney.
65-162a Public water supply systems; definitions.
65-163a Same; cessation of water delivery, when; order by secretary, judicial review.
65-163d Public water supply project loan program; definitions.
65-163g Same; project priority system development; priority list preparation, considerations.
65-163h Same; intended use plan for available moneys.
65-163l Same; authority to issue bonds.
65-163m Same; bond resolutions, contents; authorities of secretary relating to issuance of bonds.
65-163o Same; issuance of refunding bonds.
65-163p Same; disposition of revenue derived from bond sales.
65-163q Same; income from bonds exempt from taxation.
65-163r Same; bonds deemed legal and proper securities for investment by governmental entities.
65-163s Same; powers supplemental to other powers of the secretary; severability.
65-163t Same; publication of notice of bond issuance, contents; actions to contest, timing.
65-164 Sewage; definition; complaints, investigations, orders; administrative review.
65-166 Application for permit to discharge sewage.
65-166b Water program management fund.
65-169 Same; penalties for failure to comply with requirements of secretary.
65-170a Public water supply systems, water pollution, sewage discharge; "person" defined.
65-170b Same; access to properties and facilities; inspection and monitoring requirements.
65-170c Penalties for making false statement, representation or certification.
65-170d Public water supply systems; pollution violations; penalties; procedure; hearings.
65-170f Same; disposition of recovered penalties.
65-170g Disclosure of information; trade secrets; confidential information.
65-171a Stream pollution detrimental to animal or aquatic life.
65-171c Same; technical advisers.
65-171e Same; investigations, services and orders; fees.
65-171f Same; penalties for failure to comply with rules and regulations.
65-171g Protection of water and air from sewage contamination.
65-171h Minimum standards for sanitary water and sewage systems.
65-171i Feedlot law administration not affected by this act.
65-171j Discharge of substances containing mercury into waters of state prohibited; penalty.
65-171l Same; analyses to performed by laboratory certificated by secretary.
65-171n Same; development of emergency plans by secretary.
65-171o Public water supply systems; suppliers to provide notice, when; form of notice.
65-171r Same; prohibited acts.
65-171s Same; violation of standards; penalties; procedure; hearing; judicial review.
65-171t Same; attorney general to seek injunctive relief.
65-171x Application of acts to federal agencies.
65-171y Public water supply system regulation of lawn irrigation systems.
65-172 Sanitary supervision by secretary of health and environment.
65-173 Inspections; rules and regulations; penalty.
65-178 Same; nonliability for furnishing information for studies.
65-179 Same; unauthorized disclosure; penalty; construction of act.
65-181 Same; tests in accordance with rules and regulations of secretary.
65-182 Same; provisions inapplicable where parents object on religious grounds.
65-183 Same; report by physicians to secretary.
65-187 Powers and duties of secretary.
65-188 Enforcement of act; injunction, mandamus or quo warranto.
65-189e Act inapplicable to certain lands.
65-189f Rules and regulations providing for granting exceptions.
65-197 Advanced training for professional employees; payment of cost; rules and regulations.
65-1,109 Testing human breath for law enforcement purposes; unlawful acts; penalty.
65-1,109a Certification of laboratories performing environmental analyses.
65-1,112 Spinal cord injury treatment program; components.
65-1,113 Health manpower planning; collection of information; confidentiality.
65-1,115 Contract for health data and information relating to diabetes mellitus.
65-1,116 Confidentiality of information; exceptions.
65-1,117 Penalty for disclosure of confidential information.
65-1,118 Act not to effect mode of treatment.
65-1,119 Rules and regulations.
65-1,121 Medication aides; continuing education; requirements; fees.
65-1,134 Rules and regulations.
65-1,135 Payment of claims in subsequent fiscal year; limitation.
65-1,159 Development and submission of proposal; components.
65-1,160 Public awareness program on effects of tobacco, alcohol, drugs.
65-1,162 Educational program for health care providers regarding drugs.
65-1,163 Identification and referral of pregnant women at risk for prenatal substance abuse.
65-1,164 Same; service coordination for woman and family.
65-1,166 Toll free information line.
65-1,168 Cancer registry; definitions.
65-1,169 Same; collection of data; rules and regulations; reporting of cases.
65-1,170 Same; uses of nonconfidential data.
65-1,172 Same; uses of confidential data.
65-1,174a Cancer screening program.
65-1,175 Surface water quality standards; definitions.
65-1,179 Permit application; public notice, comment, hearing; department action, when.
65-1,180 Required distances from water.
65-1,181 Manure management plan; lagoon standards; monitoring wells, when.
65-1,182 Nutrient utilization plan; requirements for land application of manure or wastewater.
65-1,183 Waste management system; standards for operators; failure or unplanned release.
65-1,184 Emergency response plan.
65-1,185 Retention of facility's records and plans.
65-1,186 Facility operator; certification; responsibility for employee training.
65-1,188 Dead animal handling plan.
65-1,189 Facility closure plan; demonstration of financial ability.
65-1,190 Lagoon closure plan; demonstration of financial ability.
65-1,192 Preexisting facilities; application of separation distances.
65-1,193 Denial, suspension or revocation of permit; penalties for certain violations.
65-1,194 Application of certain standards to certain large facilities.
65-1,195 Kansas state university; duties.
65-1,196 Standards and requirements; application; powers of secretary of health and environment.
65-1,198 Rules and regulations; reports to legislature.
65-1,199 Rules and regulations for composting dead livestock.
65-1,203 Licensure or certification to perform lead-based paint activities.
65-1,204 Same; qualification requirements.
65-1,206 Lead-based paint hazard fee fund; sources of revenue; expenditures.
65-1,208 Noncompliance; notice; duty to meet compliance requirements.
65-1,209 Violations; criminal penalties.
65-1,211 Same; additional remedies.
65-1,212 Implementation of act by entities engaging in lead-based paint activities; when.
65-1,213 Statutory audit privilege not applicable.
65-1,224 Environmental use control; application; requirements; approval or disapproval.
65-1,225 Same; recording with register of deeds; enforcement.
65-1,226 Same; funding requirements; categories of property.
65-1,227 Same; term; removal or expiration; modification; liability.
65-1,228 Same; restrictions or prohibitions.
65-1,230 Same; department oversight and tracking.
65-1,231 Environmental use control fund.
65-1,232 Rules and regulations.
65-1,233 Publication of approved use controls.
65-1,234 Review of agency actions.
65-1,242 Use of birth defects information system.
65-1,243 Confidentiality of records.
65-1,244 Removal of information from system; form.
65-1,245 Rules and regulations.
65-1,247 Expedited processing and issuance of certain permits.
65-1,248 Breastfeeding; where.
65-1,250 Umbilical cord donation information act.
65-1,251 Influenza immunization for children; awareness and participation.
65-1,252 Division of health care finance; director; officers and employees.
65-1,253 Same; transfer of powers, duties and functions; Kansas health policy authority abolished.
65-1,255 Same; division successor to funds and liability.
65-1,256 Same; division successor to property and rights; conflict resolution.
65-1,259 Prenatal and postnatal diagnosed conditions awareness programs.