LawWiki
HomeCodesSearchGlossaryAPIAbout
LawWiki

Plain English summaries of California law with zero-hallucination AI. Every summary is verified against official source text.

Product

  • Search
  • Codes
  • About

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Disclaimer

© 2026 LawWiki. All rights reserved.

HomeHealth and Safety CodeDiv. 112Pt. 1Ch. 5§ 131365 Public Health Surveillance Program

§ 131365 Public Health Surveillance Program

Health and Safety Code·California
AI Summary·Official Text·Key Terms·Related Statutes·References
AI SummaryVerified

§ 131365 Public Health Surveillance Program

Key Takeaways

  • •The government can create a system to quickly collect health data to spot disease outbreaks or emergencies.
  • •Hospitals and doctors may need to send health info electronically to help track sicknesses in real time.
  • •The system must let local health departments use and share the data safely and easily.
  • •The rules for what data to collect and how to send it can change anytime without a long approval process.

Example

If lots of people suddenly get sick with the same symptoms in a city, like fever and cough, the health department can quickly see this in their system.

The system helps them notice the problem fast and figure out if it’s a big outbreak, like the flu or something more serious, so they can warn people and stop it from spreading.

AI-generated — May contain errors. Not legal advice. Always verify source.

Official Source
View on CA.gov

§ 131365 Public Health Surveillance Program

(a) (1) The department may develop and administer a syndromic surveillance program. (2) The purpose of this chapter is to authorize the department to collect public health and medical data in near real time to detect and investigate changes in the occurrence of disease in the population, especially as a result of a disease outbreak or other public health emergency, disaster, or special event and support to responses to emerging public health threats and conditions impacting the health of California residents. (3) Upon implementation of this chapter, the department shall assign a name to the program. (b) Subject to an appropriation for this purpose, the department may designate an existing syndromic surveillance system or create a new syndromic surveillance system in order to facilitate the reporting of electronic health data by specified entities pursuant to Section 131370. (c) The syndromic surveillance system created or designated by the department pursuant to subdivision (b) shall, at a minimum, provide local health departments access to and use of a secure, integrated electronic health system with standardized analytic tools and processes to rapidly collect, evaluate, share, and store syndromic surveillance data. (d) (1) The list of data elements, electronic transmission standards, data transmission schedule, and instructions pertaining to the program may be modified at any time by the department. (2)  The department shall collaborate with local health departments to determine modifications to be made pursuant to this subdivision. (3) Modifications made pursuant to this subdivision shall be exempt from the administrative regulation and rulemaking requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code and shall be implemented without being adopted as a regulation, except that the revisions shall be filed with the Secretary of State and printed and published in Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations. (Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 40, Sec. 22. (SB 159) Effective June 29, 2024.)

Last verified: January 23, 2026

Key Terms

regulationsurveillancemedicalhospitaldisasterhealthemergencyport

Related Statutes

  • § 131370 Syndromic Surveillance Data Submission
  • § 117976 Medical Waste Transport Exemption
  • § 128475 Vocational Nurse Workforce Needs
  • § 1798.3 Alternative Medical Direction Rules
  • § 128760 Health Facility Accounting Systems

References

  • Official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  • California Legislature. Health and Safety Code. Section 131365.
View Official Source