Section 144-730-1 - DefinitionsUnless the context indicates otherwise, the following expressions shall have the following meanings:
A.Department. "Department"means the State of Maine, Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.B.DRVS. "DRVS" means the Data, Research, and Vital Statistics office within the Department.C.Encryption. "Encryption" means the process of converting data to an unrecognizable form, in order to protect protected health information so that only authorized parties can view it. This includes data files and storage devices, as well as data transferred over wireless networks.D.Event. "Event"means a birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, annulment, or domestic partnership registration or termination.E.Identifying data. "Identifying data" means the names and street addresses of the registrant(s) and other individuals named on or the subject of a report or record registered by the State Registrar, including the date of birth and the month and day of the event. The year that an event occurred is not identifying data.F. Interstate data exchange. "Interstate data exchange"means a process whereby registration areas agree to exchange vital statistics data, reports and records or cancer diagnosis data with the state registrars of other states, territories, and neighboring countries where the individual resides.G.Interstate exchange cancer cases. "Interstate exchange cancer cases" means a cancer case in the Maine Cancer Registry where the only information on the cancer was received through interstate data exchange. There is no other report of the case submitted by any other institution.H.MHDO. "MHDO"means the Maine Health Data Organization.I.Protected Health Information (PHI). "Protected Health Information" includes identifying data and any individually identifiable health information (including any combination of data elements) that relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual; or the past, present or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual; and (a) identifies, directly or indirectly, 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 patient. PHI also includes individually identifiable registrant information.J.Registrant. "Registrant" means the individual(s) to whom the record pertains: the child named on a birth certificate, the decedent named on a death certificate, and the subject of cancer registry data.K.Vital Records. "Vital records" means reports of live birth, death, fetal death, marriage, and data related thereto which have been accepted for registration and incorporated into the official records from the system of vital statistics.L.Vital Statistics Data. "Vital statistics data" means the data derived from paper based or electronic vital records and reports.10-144 C.M.R. ch. 730, § 1