§ 23-01-41 — Autism spectrum disorder database - Rulemaking - Confidentiality

1. The department of health and human services shall establish and administer an
autism spectrum disorder database. The database must include a record of all
reported cases of autism spectrum disorder in the state and any other information
determined relevant and appropriate by the department in order to complete
epidemiologic surveys of the autism spectrum disorder, enable research and analysis
of the autism spectrum disorder, and provide services to individuals with an autism
spectrum disorder.
2. The department of health and human services shall establish criteria regarding who is
qualified to report a case of autism spectrum disorder to the database. In establishing
this criteria, the department shall require that the reporter be a physician or
psychologist or any other licensed or certified health care professional who is qualified
by training and by licensure or certification to make the diagnosis of autism spectrum
disorder.
3. The database established under this section must:
a. Include the reported individual's diagnoses under the most recent edition of the
American psychiatric association's diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders; and
b. Indicate whether a complete physical evaluation was performed by a licensed
independent practitioner as part of the diagnostic process for autism spectrum
disorder.
4. The department of health and human services shall adopt rules to provide for
mandatory reporting to the autism spectrum disorder database and to establish
reporting requirements, including timeliness requirements. A reporter who makes the
diagnosis an individual is affected with autism spectrum disorder, or the reporter's
designee, shall report this diagnosis in the form or manner prescribed by the
department of health and human services.
5. The department of health and human services shall keep confidential all records of the
database which could be used to identify a reported individual; however, the
department may provide these records to other state agencies as necessary to effect
the purposes of this database without regard to the confidential nature of the records.
If the department provides confidential records of the database to a state agency, the
department shall notify the receiving agency of the confidential nature of the records
and the receiving agency shall treat these records as confidential.