Oklahoma § 63-3151 - Suicide data collection system – Confidentiality of data

§ 63-3151. Suicide data collection system – Confidentiality of data

- Penalties.

A. The Legislature hereby directs the State Department of

Health to develop a state suicide data collection system to provide

reliable data about attempted suicides in this state. In developing

the system the Department shall:

1. Include information on the incidence of suicide attempts;

2. Include demographic information on persons who attempt

suicide; and

3. Explore prevention strategies for reducing the number of

attempted suicides and suicides.

B. As used in this section:

1. "Attempted suicide" means a voluntary and intentional injury

to one’s own body with the goal of ending one’s own life;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety

2. “E-codes” are external cause of injury codes contained in

the International Classification of Diseases – 9th Revision; and

3. "Suicide" means a voluntary and intentional taking of one’s

own life;

C. The State Board of Health shall, if funds are available,

establish a system for collecting information concerning attempted

suicides among persons who were hospitalized or who were treated and

released. In establishing the system, the Board may require

hospitals, and other related institutions, as defined in Section 1701 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, to include E-codes on all

patient discharge data or, if necessary, to complete and submit a

Report of Suicide Attempt form to be made available by the State

Department of Health.

D. The system shall be implemented statewide.

E. Individual forms, computer tapes or other forms of data

collected pursuant to this section shall be confidential and shall

not be public records as defined in the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

F. The confidentiality of identifying information is to be

protected, and the pertinent statutes and rules of the State of

Oklahoma and the regulations of the federal government relative to

confidentiality shall apply.

G. Identifying information shall not be disclosed and shall not

be used for any purpose except statistical reporting and data

analysis.

H. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the publishing of

statistical compilations relating to suicide attempts which do not

in any way identify individual cases or individual sources of

information.

I. 1. A violation of the provisions of this section by an

employee of the Department shall be grounds for termination of

employment.

2. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall

also be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof

shall be punished by a fine of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or

imprisonment in the county jail for up to one (1) year, or by both

such fine and imprisonment.

J. The State Board of Health is authorized to promulgate rules

to carry out the provisions of this section.

Added by Laws 2001, c. 168, § 6, emerg. eff. May 2, 2001.