An Act To Improve Health Care Data Analysis
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0541
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: PERRY
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-I, 22 MRSA §8718, 22 MRSA §42, 22 MRSA §8703, 22 MRSA §8712, 22 MRSA §8715-A, 22 MRSA §3173, 22 MRSA §8704, 22 MRSA §8719

Legislative Document
No. 541
H.P. 386
House of Representatives, February 24, 2021
An Act To Improve Health Care Data Analysis
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 22, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PERRY of Calais.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
PART A
Sec. A-1.  5 MRSA §12004-I, sub-§30-B is enacted to read:
30-B.   
Health Care: 
Data
Maine Health Data Organization 
Health Information Advisory 
Committee
Expenses Only
MRSA §8718 
Sec. A-2.  22 MRSA §42, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2009, c. 514, §1, is further 
amended by amending the 2nd blocked paragraph to read:
Exceptions to this subsection include release of medical and epidemiologic information in 
such a manner that an individual can not cannot be identified; disclosures that are necessary 
to carry out the provisions of chapter 250; disclosures made upon written authorization by 
the subject of the record, except as otherwise provided in this section; disclosures that are 
specifically required for purposes of reporting data to the Maine Health Data Organization 
as provided for by statute or by rules adopted by the Maine Health Data Organization; and 
disclosures that are specifically provided for by statute or by departmental rule.  The 
department may participate in a regional or national tracking system as provided in sections 
1533 and 8824.
Sec. A-3.  22 MRSA §8703, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2019, c. 470, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Objective.  The purposes of the organization are to create and maintain a useful, 
objective, reliable and comprehensive health information database that is used to improve 
the health of Maine citizens and to issue reports, as provided in sections 8712 and 8736 this 
chapter.  This database must be publicly accessible while protecting patient confidentiality 
and respecting providers of care.  The organization shall collect, process, analyze and report 
clinical, financial, quality and restructuring data as defined in this chapter.
Sec. A-4.  22 MRSA §8712, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 232, §2, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Payments.  The organization shall create a publicly accessible interactive website 
that presents reports related to payments for services rendered by health care facilities and 
practitioners to residents of the State.  The services presented must include, but not be 
limited to, imaging, preventative health, radiology, surgical services, comparable health 
care services as defined in Title 24-A, section 4318-A, subsection 1, paragraph A and other 
services that are predominantly elective and may be provided to a large number of patients 
who do not have health insurance or are underinsured.  The website must also be 
constructed to display prices paid by individual commercial health insurance companies, 
3rd-party administrators and, unless prohibited by federal law, governmental payors.  
Beginning October 1, 2012, price information posted on the website must be posted 
semiannually and beginning October 1, 2022 must be posted annually, must display the 
date of posting and, when posted, must be current to within 12 months of the date of 
submission of the information.  Payment reports and price information posted on the 
website must include data submitted by payors with regard to all health care facilities and 
practitioners that provide comparable health care services as defined in Title 24‑A, section 
4318‑A, subsection 1, paragraph A or services for which the organization reports data 
pertaining to the statewide average price pursuant to this subsection or Title 24-A, section 
4318‑B.  Upon notice made by a health care facility or practitioner that data posted by the 
organization pertaining to that facility or practitioner is inaccurate or incomplete, the 
organization shall remedy the inaccurate or incomplete data within the earlier of 30 days 
of receipt of the notice and the next semiannual posting date.
Sec. A-5.  22 MRSA §8712, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 469, Pt. C, §29, is 
repealed.
Sec. A-6.  22 MRSA §8712, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 469, Pt. C, §29, is 
repealed.
Sec. A-7.  22 MRSA §8715-A is enacted to read:
§8715-A.  Reporting of cancer data and vital statistics data
The organization may adopt rules to require the reporting to the organization of data 
from the cancer-incidence registry established pursuant to section 1404 and data related to 
the registration of vital statistics pursuant to section 2701. Rules adopted pursuant to this 
section are routine technical rules as described in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. A-8.  22 MRSA §8718 is enacted to read:
§8718.  Maine Health Data Organization Health Information Advisory Committee
The Maine Health Data Organization Health Information Advisory Committee, 
referred to in this section as "the advisory committee," is established in accordance with 
this section to make recommendations to the organization regarding public reporting of 
health care trends developed from data reported to the organization pursuant to this chapter.
1.  Membership.  The advisory committee consists of the following 11 members:
A.  The executive director of the organization;
B.  One member of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate;
C.  One member of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives;
D.  The commissioner or the commissioner's designee;
E.  The Superintendent of Insurance or the superintendent's designee; and
F.  Six members appointed by the board as follows:
(1)  One member representing consumers of health care;
(2)  One member representing providers;
(3)  One member representing hospitals;
(4)  One member representing employers;
(5)  One member representing carriers; and
(6)  One member representing the state employee health plan under Title 5, section 
285.
2.  Duties.  The advisory committee shall:
A.  Make recommendations to the organization to establish priorities for health care 
trend data items;
B.  Make recommendations to the organization on the annual public reporting of health 
care trend data items pursuant to this chapter; and
C.  Make additional health care data trend-related recommendations as requested by 
the executive director of the organization.
3.  Terms.  Members of the advisory committee appointed by the board serve 5-year 
terms except for initial appointments.  Initial appointments must include one member 
appointed to a 3-year term, 2 members appointed to 4-year terms and 3 members appointed 
to 5-year terms.  A member may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms.
4.  Compensation.  Members of the advisory committee are eligible for compensation 
according to the provisions of Title 5, chapter 379.
5.  Quorum.  A quorum is a majority of the members of the advisory committee.
6.  Chair and officers.  The advisory committee shall annually choose one of its 
members to serve as chair for a one-year term.  The advisory committee may select other 
officers and designate their duties.
7.  Meetings.  The advisory committee shall meet at least 4 times a year at regular 
intervals and may meet at other times at the call of the chair or the executive director of the 
organization.  Meetings of the advisory committee are public proceedings as provided by 
Title 1, chapter 13, subchapter 1.
PART B
Sec. B-1.  22 MRSA §3173, as amended by PL 1997, c. 676, §1 and PL 2003, c. 
689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
The department shall use the multipayor provider database established in section 8719 
as its primary source of information to update the department's own data and publicly 
available information regarding health care provider and service directory information 
when the information required by the department is already available through the 
multipayor provider database.
Sec. B-2.  22 MRSA §8704, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2019, c. 470, §2, is 
further amended to read:
A.  The board shall develop and implement policies and procedures for the collection, 
processing, storage and analysis of clinical, financial, quality, restructuring and 
provider data and prescription drug price data in accordance with this subsection for 
the following purposes:
(1)  To use, build and improve upon and coordinate existing data sources and 
measurement efforts through the integration of data systems and standardization of 
concepts;
(2)  To coordinate the development of a linked public and private sector 
information system;
(3)  To emphasize data that is useful, relevant and not duplicative of existing data;
(4)  To minimize the burden on those providing data; and
(5)  To preserve the reliability, accuracy and integrity of collected data while 
ensuring that the data is available in the public domain.
Sec. B-3.  22 MRSA §8719 is enacted to read:
§8719.  Provider database and service locator tool
1.  Provider database.  The organization shall develop and maintain a multipayor 
provider database that must be used by the department to provide information for a service 
locator available on a publicly accessible website for use by the public, by providers and 
by state agencies in accordance with this section. The organization and the department shall 
leverage existing data sources to maintain the database whenever possible, as allowable by 
state and federal law. Creation and maintenance of the database may not increase 
mandatory reporting requirements for providers of physical health services, and reporting 
requirements for providers of behavioral health services must be kept to the minimum 
necessary to ensure development of a useful database and tool for analytic, consumer 
service and provider identification and referral purposes. The organization shall collaborate 
with the department as necessary on the development and maintenance of the database.
2.  Funding.  The development of the multipayor provider database and service locator 
tool under subsection 1 must be funded using existing resources within the department and 
grant funding obtained by the department from public and private sources.  The 
organization and the Office of MaineCare Services within the department are jointly 
responsible for the ongoing maintenance costs of the provider database using existing 
resources.
Sec. B-4.  Development of multipayor provider database.  In accordance with 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 8719, the Maine Health Data Organization 
shall develop a plan, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, 
payors, providers, health care purchasers and representatives of consumers, to develop a 
broad, multipayor provider database.  The organization's objective is to develop reporting, 
use and structure requirements for the multipayor provider database that will enable carriers 
to fulfill their obligation to provide timely and accurate provider directories without placing 
undue, additional administrative burdens on providers and to improve the accuracy and 
mapping of such data for analytic, consumer service and provider identification and referral 
purposes.  The organization shall consult with other state and national agencies and 
organizations to determine best and promising practices for the development of the 
database. The organization shall submit the plan, its findings and any recommendations for 
suggested legislation to the Joint Standing Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and 
Financial Services no later than February 1, 2022. The committee may report out legislation 
based upon the report to the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature.
SUMMARY
Part A of the bill does the following.
1.  It reduces the timing of when updates of price information must be posted on the 
Maine Health Data Organization's website from twice annually to once annually and also 
repeals the provisions requiring annual reports related to the 15 most common outpatient 
procedures and to the 10 services and procedures most often provided by physicians in a 
private office setting.
2.  It authorizes the Maine Health Data Organization to adopt rules related to the 
reporting to the organization of data from the statewide cancer-incidence registry and data 
related to vital statistics.
3.  It establishes the Maine Health Data Organization Health Information Advisory 
Committee to make recommendations to the organization regarding public reporting of 
health care trends developed from data reported to the organization.
Part B of the bill directs the Maine Health Data Organization to develop and maintain 
a multipayor provider database and service locator tool in conjunction with the Department 
of Health and Human Services.