North Dakota § 23-01-41 - Autism spectrum disorder database - Rulemaking - Confidentiality

§ 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.