144.29A - TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY REPORTING.
144.29A TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY REPORTING.
1. A health care provider who initially identifies and diagnoses
a spontaneous termination of pregnancy or who induces a termination
of pregnancy shall file with the department a report for each
termination within thirty days of the occurrence. The health care
provider shall make a good faith effort to obtain all of the
following information that is available with respect to each
termination:
a. The confidential health care provider code as assigned by
the department.
b. The report tracking number.
c. The maternal health services region of the Iowa department
of public health, as designated as of July 1, 1997, in which the
patient resides.
d. The race of the patient.
e. The age of the patient.
f. The marital status of the patient.
g. The educational level of the patient.
h. The number of previous pregnancies, live births, and
spontaneous or induced terminations of pregnancies.
i. The month and year in which the termination occurred.
j. The number of weeks since the patient's last menstrual
period and a clinical estimate of gestation.
k. The method used for an induced termination, including
whether mifepristone was used.
2. It is the intent of the general assembly that the information
shall be collected, reproduced, released, and disclosed in a manner
specified by rule of the department, adopted pursuant to chapter 17A,
which ensures the anonymity of the patient who experiences a
termination of pregnancy, the health care provider who identifies and
diagnoses or induces a termination of pregnancy, and the hospital,
clinic, or other health facility in which a termination of pregnancy
is identified and diagnosed or induced. The department may share
information with federal public health officials for the purposes of
securing federal funding or conducting public health research.
However, in sharing the information, the department shall not
relinquish control of the information, and any agreement entered into
by the department with federal public health officials to share
information shall prohibit the use, reproduction, release, or
disclosure of the information by federal public health officials in a
manner which violates this section. The department shall publish,
annually, a demographic summary of the information obtained pursuant
to this section, except that the department shall not reproduce,
release, or disclose any information obtained pursuant to this
section which reveals the identity of any patient, health care
provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility, and shall
ensure anonymity in the following ways:
a. The department may use information concerning the report
tracking number or concerning the identity of a reporting health care
provider, hospital, clinic, or other health facility only for
purposes of information collection. The department shall not
reproduce, release, or disclose this information for any purpose
other than for use in annually publishing the demographic summary
under this section.
b. The department shall enter the information, from any
report of termination submitted, within thirty days of receipt of the
report, and shall immediately destroy the report following entry of
the information. However, entry of the information from a report
shall not include any health care provider, hospital, clinic, or
other health facility identification information including, but not
limited to, the confidential health care provider code, as assigned
by the department.
c. To protect confidentiality, the department shall limit
release of information to release in an aggregate form which prevents
identification of any individual patient, health care provider,
hospital, clinic, or other health facility. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "aggregate form" means a compilation of the
information received by the department on termination of pregnancies
for each information item listed, with the exceptions of the report
tracking number, the health care provider code, and any set of
information for which the amount is so small that the confidentiality
of any person to whom the information relates may be compromised.
The department shall establish a methodology to provide a
statistically verifiable basis for any determination of the correct
amount at which information may be released so that the
confidentiality of any person is not compromised.
3. Except as specified in subsection 2, reports, information, and
records submitted and maintained pursuant to this section are
strictly confidential and shall not be released or made public upon
subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or by any other
means.
4. The department shall assign a code to any health care provider
who may be required to report a termination under this section. An
application procedure shall not be required for assignment of a code
to a health care provider.
5. A health care provider shall assign a report tracking number
which enables the health care provider to access the patient's
medical information without identifying the patient.
6. To ensure proper performance of the reporting requirements
under this section, it is preferred that a health care provider who
practices within a hospital, clinic, or other health facility
authorize one staff person to fulfill the reporting requirements.
7. For the purposes of this section, "health care provider"
means an individual licensed under chapter 148, 148C, 148D, or 152,
or any individual who provides medical services under the
authorization of the licensee.
8. For the purposes of this section, "inducing a termination of
pregnancy" means the use of any means to terminate the pregnancy of
a woman known to be pregnant with the intent other than to produce a
live birth or to remove a dead fetus.
9. For the purposes of this section, "spontaneous termination
of pregnancy" means the occurrence of an unintended termination of
pregnancy at any time during the period from conception to twenty
weeks gestation and which is not a spontaneous termination of
pregnancy at any time during the period from twenty weeks or greater
which is reported to the department as a fetal death under this
chapter. Section History: Recent Form
97 Acts, ch 172, §1; 2003 Acts, ch 42, §1; 2008 Acts, ch 1088, §94
Referred to in § 144.52, 331.611