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1 | AN ACT concerning public health.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Disease and Symptom
Complex
Surveillance and Reporting Act.
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6 | Section 5. Legislative findings and purpose.
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7 | (a) The General Assembly finds that: (i) protection of the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | public health and
welfare of the
citizens of Illinois requires | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | immediate access by State government to
information regarding
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10 | outbreaks of disease symptoms and other medical symptom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | complexes; (ii)
although systems exist
within State government | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | to access and maintain databases as to certain medical
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13 | symptoms, these
existing systems are not designed to furnish | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | the immediately available
integrated statewide
surveillance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | and data access needed to promptly address unusual occurrences | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | of
disease symptoms
and other medical symptom complexes; (iii) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | it is the obligation of State
government to protect the
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18 | citizens of the State of Illinois by developing such an | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | immediately accessible,
comprehensive, and
integrated data | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | surveillance and collection system regarding outbreaks of
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21 | disease symptoms and
other medical symptom complexes.
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22 | (b) The purpose of this Act is to establish a | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | comprehensive,
integrated statewide data surveillance and | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | collection system, through
electronic
and other appropriate
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25 | means, that contains immediately accessible, comprehensive, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | and integrated data
regarding disease
symptoms and other | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | medical symptom complexes; provided, however, that such
system | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | shall contain
stringent confidentiality and privacy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | protections for individually identifiable
health information.
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30 | Section 10. Definitions. For purposes of this Act, unless | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | the context
requires
otherwise:
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1 | "Communicable Diseases Code" means the Illinois Control of | ||||||
2 | Communicable
Diseases Code.
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3 | "Department" means the Illinois Department of
Public | ||||||
4 | Health.
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5 | "Director" means the Director of Public
Health.
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6 | "Disease symptoms"
means medical symptoms of communicable | ||||||
7 | or non-communicable diseases, and, for
purposes of
| ||||||
8 | communicable diseases, includes without limitation those | ||||||
9 | diseases reportable
under the Illinois
Control of Communicable | ||||||
10 | Diseases Code.
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11 | "Individually identifiable health
information" means
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12 | information collected pursuant to this Act that relates to the | ||||||
13 | past, present,
or future physical or
mental health or condition | ||||||
14 | of an individual or that relates to the provision of
health | ||||||
15 | care to an
individual, such that the information identifies the | ||||||
16 | individual or there is
reasonable basis to believe
the | ||||||
17 | information can be used to identify the individual.
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18 | "Medical symptom complex" means
symptoms or symptom | ||||||
19 | clusters for other than disease, including without
limitation | ||||||
20 | those required to
be reported under the Illinois Health and | ||||||
21 | Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
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22 | Section 15. Data system. The Department, in order to | ||||||
23 | prevent and control
disease, injury, or
disability among | ||||||
24 | citizens of the State of Illinois, shall establish a statewide
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25 | system of uninterrupted
access to surveillance, interoperable | ||||||
26 | networks, information exchange, and data
protocols, a
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27 | comprehensive system of reporting to State government, and | ||||||
28 | immediate access to
medical data,
treatment guidelines and | ||||||
29 | health alerts, for disease symptoms and medical
symptom | ||||||
30 | complexes.
This system shall use electronic and other | ||||||
31 | appropriate means of communication.
Individually
identifiable | ||||||
32 | health information accessed through this system shall be | ||||||
33 | subject
to, and protected by,
the confidentiality and privacy | ||||||
34 | provisions set forth in Section 30.
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1 | Section 20. Emergency medical investigations. When the | ||||||
2 | Director determines
that morbidity
or mortality from a | ||||||
3 | particular set of disease symptoms or a medical symptom
complex | ||||||
4 | warrants
study to protect and control disease, injury, or | ||||||
5 | disability among citizens of
the State of Illinois, the
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6 | Director may declare the disease symptoms or medical symptom | ||||||
7 | complex to be the
subject of an
emergency medical | ||||||
8 | investigation, and require the persons and entities
identified | ||||||
9 | in Section 25 to
submit or make available such information, | ||||||
10 | medical records, data, and reports
as
are necessary for the
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11 | purpose of the study. Individually identifiable health | ||||||
12 | information furnished
pursuant to this Section
shall be subject | ||||||
13 | to, and protected by, the confidentiality and privacy
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14 | protections set forth in Section 30.
Nothing in this Act shall | ||||||
15 | be construed to compel any individual to submit to a
medical | ||||||
16 | examination
or medical supervision.
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17 | Section 25. Required participation. The following persons | ||||||
18 | and entities must
participate in the
surveillance and reporting | ||||||
19 | system described in Section 15 and the emergency
medical | ||||||
20 | investigations
described in Section 20, in accordance with the | ||||||
21 | provisions of this Act and the
rules promulgated by
the | ||||||
22 | Department:
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23 | (1) Physicians and physician group practices.
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24 | (2) Nurses.
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25 | (3) Nurse aides.
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26 | (4) Dentists.
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27 | (5) Health care practitioners.
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28 | (6) Hospitals and hospital personnel.
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29 | (7) Health insurance entities.
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30 | (8) Laboratories and laboratory personnel.
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31 | (9) Long-term care facilities and personnel.
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32 | (10) Community health centers, rural health clinics, and | ||||||
33 | public health
clinics.
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34 | (11) Local health departments.
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35 | (12) State-operated health facilities.
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1 | (13) School personnel.
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2 | (14) Day care personnel.
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3 | (15) Pharmacies and pharmacy personnel.
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4 | (16) Coroners and medical examiners.
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5 | (17) Emergency medical technicians and other first | ||||||
6 | responders.
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7 | Section 30. Confidentiality of information obtained. All | ||||||
8 | reports made
pursuant to the
provisions of this Act shall be | ||||||
9 | strictly confidential, including the identity
of the | ||||||
10 | individual who is
the subject of the report and the identity of | ||||||
11 | the author of such report, and
shall be used only for
public | ||||||
12 | health purposes. The Department shall not release any data or | ||||||
13 | information obtained
pursuant to this Act to any individuals or | ||||||
14 | entities for purposes other than protection of the public
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15 | health, unless the data or information can be de-identified | ||||||
16 | such that there is no reasonable basis
to believe the data or | ||||||
17 | information that is released could be used to identify an | ||||||
18 | individual through
such means as automated record linking | ||||||
19 | technology, data analysis and exchange, or any other
similar | ||||||
20 | methods. The Department shall by rule or regulation establish | ||||||
21 | standards or guidelines for
ensuring the protection of | ||||||
22 | information made confidential or privileged under law. The | ||||||
23 | privacy
protections enumerated in this Section and the rules | ||||||
24 | promulgated thereunder shall be in addition
to the privacy and | ||||||
25 | confidentiality provisions contained in the Communicable | ||||||
26 | Disease Report Act,
the Control of Communicable Diseases Code, | ||||||
27 | and the Illinois Health and
Hazardous Substances
Registry Act.
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28 | Section 35. Admissibility as evidence. Individually | ||||||
29 | identifiable health
information
obtained by the Department | ||||||
30 | pursuant to the provisions of this Act and the
regulations
| ||||||
31 | promulgated under this Act shall not be admissible as evidence, | ||||||
32 | nor
discoverable in any action of
any kind in any court or | ||||||
33 | before any tribunal, board, agency, or person. The
identity of | ||||||
34 | the
individual or entity who makes a report to the Department |
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1 | pursuant to this Act
shall be
confidential and shall not be | ||||||
2 | admissible as evidence, nor discoverable in any
action of any | ||||||
3 | kind
in any court or before any tribunal, board, agency, or | ||||||
4 | person. The disclosure
of any such
information or data, whether | ||||||
5 | proper or improper, shall not waive or have any
effect upon its
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6 | confidentiality, nondiscoverability, or nonadmissibility. The | ||||||
7 | inadmissibility
of information as
evidence as described by this | ||||||
8 | Section shall be in addition to the similar
inadmissibility
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9 | provisions contained in the Communicable Disease Report Act, | ||||||
10 | the Control of
Communicable
Diseases Code, and the Illinois | ||||||
11 | Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
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12 | Section 40. Promulgation of rules. The Department shall | ||||||
13 | adopt any rules
necessary to
ensure proper implementation and | ||||||
14 | administration of this Act.
Those rules shall include | ||||||
15 | provisions for the imposition of fines and other
appropriate | ||||||
16 | civil remedies upon violation of this Act or the rules.
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17 | Section 45. Act takes precedence. In case of any conflict | ||||||
18 | between the
provisions of this
Act and any other law, executive | ||||||
19 | order, or administrative regulation, the
provisions of this Act
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20 | shall prevail and control.
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21 | Section 50. Penalties. Any person who violates this Act
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22 | shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and shall be fined a | ||||||
23 | sum not less than
$1,000 per violation. Each
day's violation | ||||||
24 | constitutes a separate offense. The State's Attorney of the
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25 | county in which the
violation occurred, or the Attorney | ||||||
26 | General, shall bring such actions in the
name of the People of
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27 | the State of Illinois, and may, in addition to other remedies | ||||||
28 | provided in this
Act, bring action for
an injunction to | ||||||
29 | restrain such violation.
Any person who violates any rule or | ||||||
30 | regulation adopted by the Department, or
who violates any | ||||||
31 | determination or order of the Department thereunder, shall be
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32 | subject to fines of up to $10,000 per violation and other | ||||||
33 | appropriate civil
penalties as determined by the Department |
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1 | through issuance of rules.
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2 | Section 55. Limited liability. The persons and entities | ||||||
3 | listed in items (1)
through (17) of Section 25, who in
good | ||||||
4 | faith report information described in Section 15 or participate | ||||||
5 | in an
emergency medical
investigation described in Section 5, | ||||||
6 | shall be immune from civil liability in
connection with such
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7 | reporting or participation. The identity of any individual who | ||||||
8 | makes a report
or who is identified
in a report shall be | ||||||
9 | confidential and the identity of any person making a
report or | ||||||
10 | named therein
shall not be disclosed publicly or in any action | ||||||
11 | of any kind in any court or
before any tribunal,
board, or | ||||||
12 | agency.
Nothing in this Act shall exonerate the persons and | ||||||
13 | entities listed in items
(1) through (17) of Section 20
from | ||||||
14 | liability for injury caused by willful or wanton misconduct.
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15 | Section 60. Severability. If any provision or clause of | ||||||
16 | this Act or the
application thereof
to any person or | ||||||
17 | circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not
affect | ||||||
18 | other provisions or
applications of the Act which can be given | ||||||
19 | effect without the invalid provision
or application,
and to | ||||||
20 | this end the provisions of this Act are declared to be | ||||||
21 | severable.
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22 | Section 65. Exclusive jurisdiction. It is declared to be | ||||||
23 | the law of this
State
that the
regulation of disease symptoms | ||||||
24 | and symptom complexes as described in this Act
is an exercise
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25 | of exclusive State power which may not be exercised | ||||||
26 | concurrently by any unit of
local
government, including home | ||||||
27 | rule units.
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28 | Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding | ||||||
29 | Section 8.28 as
follows:
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30 | (30 ILCS 805/8.28 new)
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31 | Sec. 8.28. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 |
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1 | of this
Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the | ||||||
2 | implementation of
any mandate created by this amendatory Act of | ||||||
3 | the 93rd General Assembly.
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4 | Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
5 | becoming law. |