CA SB1322

Secretary of California Health and Human Services must contract with one or more private, independent nonprofit organizations by January 1, 2016 to establish and administer the California Health Care Cost and Quality Database.

Health care service plans, insurers, self-insured employers, and providers must submit utilization data from medical, dental, and pharmacy claims and pricing information for health care items and services to the nonprofit organization administering the database.

The nonprofit organization must receive, process, and analyze data from multiple sources including claims, disease registries, quality surveys, and licensing reviews, and must make a web-based searchable database publicly available by January 1, 2018.

All data disclosures must comply with federal privacy laws including HIPAA and HITECH Act, and the nonprofit organization is prohibited from publicly disclosing any unaggregated, individually identifiable health information.

The Secretary must convene an advisory committee of health care stakeholders and experts to recommend strategies for promoting quality health care and containing costs, with the committee producing a report to the Legislature and Governor addressing nine specified issues including cost containment and transparency.