(a) The department may, during reasonable business hours, inspect health care records maintained by physicians and other health care professionals, hospitals, out-patient clinics, nursing homes, and other facilities or agencies providing health care services to patients that would identify patients or establish characteristics of an identified patient with cancer required to be reported under 42 U.S.C. § 280e – 280e-4, or a birth defect or infectious disease required to be reported to protect the public health under this chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter. Disclosure of these health care records to the department does not constitute a breach of patient confidentiality.(b) The department may conduct research using health care data reported under (a) of this section. The department may provide data obtained under (a) of this section to other persons for clinical, epidemiological, or other public health research.(c) Data obtained or a record inspected under this section that identifies a particular individual
(1) is confidential;(2) may not be further disclosed to other persons except by the department under (b) of this section; and(3) is not subject to inspection or copying under Alaska Stat. § 40.25.110 – 40.25.125.
