As used in this chapter:

1.    “Confidential information” includes any confidential record as defined in subsection 3 of section 44-04-17.1, any protected health information, and any other information declared confidential by law.

2.    “Disclose” means to disclose, transfer, permit access to, or otherwise divulge protected health information to any person other than the individual who is the subject of that information and includes the initial disclosure and any subsequent redisclosures of individually identifiable health care information.

3.    “Institutional review board” means any board, committee, or other group formally designated by an institution or public health authority or authorized under federal or state law to review, approve the initiation of, or conduct a periodic review of research programs to assure the protection of the rights and welfare of human research subjects.

4. “Law enforcement inquiry” means any executive branch investigation or official proceeding inquiring into a violation of, or failure to comply with, any criminal or civil statute or any regulation, rule, or order issued pursuant to such a statute.

5.    “Nonidentifiable health information” means any information that would otherwise be protected health information except that it does not reveal the identity of the individual whose health or health care is the subject of the information and there is no reasonable basis to believe that the information could be used to identify that individual.

6.    “Person” means a government, governmental subdivision of an executive branch agency or authority, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, estate, trust, joint venture, individual, individual representative, tribal government, and any other legal entity.

7.    “Protected health information” means any information, including genetic information, demographic information, and fluid or tissue samples collected from an individual, diagnostic and test results, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, which:

a.    Is created or received by a health care provider, health researcher, health plan, health oversight authority, public health authority, employer, health or life insurer, school or university; and

b.     (1) Relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual, including individual cells and their components; the provision of health care to an individual; or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual; and

(2)    (a)    Identifies an individual; or

(b)    With respect to which there is a reasonable basis to believe that the information can be used to identify an individual.

8.    “Public health authority” means the department of health and human services’ public health division, department of environmental quality, a local public health unit, and any authority or instrumentality of the United States, a tribal government, a state, or a political subdivision of a state, a foreign nation, or a political subdivision of a foreign nation, which is:

a.    Primarily responsible for public health matters; and

b.    Primarily engaged in activities such as injury reporting, public health surveillance, and public health investigation or intervention.

9.    “School or university” means an institution or place for instruction or education, including an elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher learning, a college, or an assemblage of colleges united under one corporate organization or government.

10.    “State” includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

11.    “Writing” or “written” means writing in either a paper-based or computer-based form, including electronic signatures.