An Act To Facilitate the Maine Quality Forum
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 2097
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: MILLER, MAYO, SIMPSON, HOBBINS
Amends: 22 MRSA §2053, 24-A MRSA §6907

Legislative Document 
No. 2097 
H.P.1490 
House of Representatives, April 3, 2006 
An Act To Facilitate the Maine Quality Forum 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative MILLER of Somerville. (GOVERNOR'S BILL) 
Cosponsored by Senator MAYO of Sagadahoc and 
Representative: SIMPSON of Auburn, Senator: HOBBINS of York. 
Primt!d on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 22 MRS A §2053, sub-§2-D is enacted to read: 
2-D. Health information network. "Health information network" means a secure 
integrated electronic clinical health information sharing and exchange system connecting 
health care providers that provide essential clinical health care data supporting individual 
patients at the point of care. 
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §2053, sub-§3-A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 407, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
3-A. 
Health care facility. "Health care facility" means a nursing home that is, or 
will be upon completion, licensed under chapter 405; a residential care facility that is, or 
will be upon completion, licensed under chapter 1663; a continuing care retirement 
community that is, or will be upon completion, licensed under Title 24-A, chapter 73; an 
assisted living facility that is, or will be upon completion, licensed under chapter 1664; a 
hospital; a community mental health facility; a scene response air ambulance licensed 
under Title 32, chapter 2-B and the rules adopted thereunder; ef a community health 
center; or a health information network. 
Sec. 3. 22 MRS A §2053, sub-§3-B, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 385, §1, IS 
amended to read: 
3-B. 
Eligible entity. "Eligible entity" means a facility or institution eligible to 
participate in fmancing or other borrowing services authorized by this chapter and 
includes a participating health information network, a participating community health or 
social service facility, a participating health care facility or a participating institution for 
higher education. 
Sec. 4. 24-A MRS A §6907, first ~, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 469, Pt. A, §8, is 
amended to read: 
Except as provided in subsections 1 aH6~ 2 and 3, information obtained by Dirigo 
Health under this chapter is a public record within the meaning of Title 1, chapter 13, 
subchapter 1. 
Sec. 5. 24-A MRSA §6907, sub-§3 is enacted to read: 
3. Practitioner-specific quality data. As used in this subsection, "practitioner-
specific quality data" means data, electronic or paper, that can be analyzed to provide 
information describing a practitioner's performance measured against consensus best 
practices of health care and current local and national patterns of health care. All records, 
reports, working papers, drafts, data, interoffice and intraoffice memoranda and e-mails 
used or maintained by the Maine Quality Forum, established in section 6951, to formulate 
practitioner-specific quality data are confidential. Once the practitioner-specific quality 
data are determined to be accurate and complete by the Director of the Maine Quality 
Forum, the executive director or the board, the practitioner-specific quality data and all 
records, reports, working papers, drafts, data, interoffice and intraoffice memoranda and 
e-mails used or maintained by the Maine Quality Forum to formulate practitioner-specific 
quality data must be subject to public inspection. 
SUMMARY 
This bill defines "health infonnation network" and amends the Maine Health and 
Higher Educational Facilities Authority Act to allow the Maine Health and Higher 
Educational Facilities Authority the discretion to provide bonded capital funding for a 
health infonnation network that provides a mechanism for the exchange of health 
infonnation among health care facilities. 
It also specifies that data acquired by the Maine Quality Forum to support 
practitioner-specific quality data is confidential until the data's accuracy and the derived 
infonnation's reliability is determined to meet the Maine Quality Forum's standards.