‘‘(E) HEALTH OVERSIGHT AGENCY.—The
term ‘health oversight agency’ means a person
who, with respect to a specific item of protected
health information, receives or creates the infor-
mation while acting in whole or in part in the
capacity of—
‘‘(i) a person who performs or over-
sees the performance of an assessment,
evaluation, determination, or investigation
relating to the licensing, accreditation, or
certification of health care providers;
‘‘(ii) a person who—
‘‘(I) performs or oversees the
performance of an audit, assessment,
evaluation, determination, or inves-
tigation relating to the effectiveness
of, compliance with, or applicability
of, legal, fiscal, medical, or scientific
standards or aspects of performance
related to the delivery of, or payment
for, health care; and
‘‘(II) is a public agency, acting
on behalf of a public agency, acting
pursuant to a requirement of a public
agency, or carrying out activities
under a State or Federal statute regu-
lating the assessment, evaluation, de-
termination, or investigation; or
‘‘(III) an officer or employee of a
person described in subclause (I) or
(II).
‘‘(F) HEALTH
RESEARCHER.—The term
‘health researcher’ means a person who, with
respect to a specific item of protected health in-
formation, receives or creates the information
while acting in whole or in part in the capacity
of—
‘‘(i) a person conducting a biomedical,
epidemiological, or health services research
or statistics project, or a research project
on behavioral and social factors affecting
health; or
‘‘(ii) an officer or employee of a per-
son described in clause (i).
‘‘(G) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ includes
an authority of the United States, a State, or
a political subdivision of a State.
‘‘(H) 
PROTECTED
HEALTH
INFORMA-
TION.—The term ‘protected health information’
means any information, whether oral or re-
corded in any form or medium—
‘‘(i) that is created or received in a
State by—
‘‘(I) a health care provider;
‘‘(II) a health benefit plan spon-
sor;
‘‘(III) a health oversight agency;
or
‘‘(IV) a public health authority;
‘‘(ii) that relates in any way to the
past, present, or future physical or mental
health or condition or functional status of
a protected individual, the provision of
health care to a protected individual, or
payment for the provision of health care to
a protected individual; and
‘‘(iii) that—
‘‘(I) identifies the individual; or
‘‘(II) with respect to which there
is a reasonable basis to believe that
the information can be used to iden-
tify the individual.
‘‘(I) PROTECTED INDIVIDUAL.—The term
‘protected individual’ means an individual who,
with respect to a date—
‘‘(i) is living on the date; or
‘‘(ii) has died within the 2-year period
ending on the date.
‘‘(J) PUBLIC
HEALTH
AUTHORITY.—The
term ‘public health authority’ means a person
who, with respect to a specific item of protected
health information, receives or creates the infor-
mation while acting in whole or in part in the
capacity of—
‘‘(i) an authority of the United States,
a State, or a political subdivision of a
State that is responsible for public health
matters;
‘‘(ii) a person acting under the direc-
tion of such an authority; or
‘‘(iii) an officer or employee of a per-
son described in clause (i) or (ii).
‘‘(K) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Vir-
gin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Northern Mariana Islands.’’.
Æ