NC H1298

Expands the definition of "patient data" under the Medical Care Data Act to explicitly include emergency department data and ambulatory surgical data, in addition to inpatient data.

Requires emergency department and ambulatory surgical facility data submissions to include the same elements as inpatient data: patient demographics (age, sex, zip code, race, ethnicity as of January 1, 2010), insurance coverage, diagnoses, procedures, admission and discharge dates, charges, and facility identification numbers.

Effective January 1, 2010, adds race and ethnicity to the required patient data elements for all submissions (inpatient, emergency department, and ambulatory surgical).

Becomes effective upon enactment into law.