1. The department of health and senior services shall protect the identity of the patient, physician, health care provider, hospital, pathology laboratory, ambulatory surgical center, residential care facilities or assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities or skilled nursing facilities, and free-standing cancer clinic or treatment center which is involved in the reporting required by section 192.653, and such identity shall not be revealed except that the identity of the patient may be released only upon written consent of the patient, the identity of the physician or health care provider may be released only upon written consent of the physician or health care provider, and the identity of the hospital, pathology laboratory, ambulatory surgical center, residential care facilities or assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities or skilled nursing facilities, or free-standing cancer clinic or treatment center may be released only upon written consent of the facility.

2. The department shall request consent for release from a patient, physician, health care provider, hospital, pathology laboratory, ambulatory surgical center, residential care facilities or assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities or skilled nursing facilities, or free-standing cancer clinic or treatment center only upon a showing by the applicant for such release that obtaining the identities of certain patients, physicians, health care providers, hospitals, pathology laboratories, ambulatory surgical centers, residential care facilities or assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities or skilled nursing facilities, or free-standing cancer clinics or treatment centers is necessary for his or her cancer research and that his or her cancer research is worthwhile.

3. The department shall use or publish reports based upon materials reported pursuant to sections 192.650 to 192.657 to advance research, education and treatment. The department shall provide qualified researchers with data from the reported information upon the researcher’s compliance with appropriate conditions as provided by rule and upon payment of a fee to cover the cost of processing the data.

4. The department may enter into an exchange of data agreement with other cancer registries maintained by federal, state or local governmental entities. The provisions of subsection 1 of this section shall not apply to such an agreement if the agreement provides that the federal, state or local governmental cancer registry shall protect the identity of the patient, physician, health care provider, hospital, pathology laboratory, ambulatory surgical center, residential care facilities or assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities or skilled nursing facilities, and free-standing cancer clinic or treatment center in all data received from the Missouri department of health and senior services.