(a) (1) (A) A specified entity shall submit the required data electronically to the syndromic surveillance system developed by the department in accordance with the schedule, standards, and requirements established by the department.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a specified entity shall submit the required data electronically to a local health department that participates in a syndromic surveillance system or maintains its own system pursuant to subdivision (b).
(C) The department may adopt regulations, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of the Government Code), to specify any other entity that is required to provide data pursuant to this section.
(2) A specified entity shall collect and report data to the department or local syndromic surveillance system, if applicable, as near as possible to real time.
(b) (1) (A) A specified entity may decline to report electronic health data to the department if the local health department in which the specified entity is located participates in a syndromic surveillance system or maintains its own system that has, or by no later than July 1, 2027, will have, the capacity to transmit the specified entity’s required electronic health and medical data to the department’s designated syndromic surveillance system in near real time and the specified entity reports electronic health and medical data to the local health department’s syndromic surveillance system.
(B) The department shall provide guidance and technical assistance to local health departments that participate in a syndromic surveillance system or maintains its own system to develop automated transmission of data from local syndromic surveillance systems into the state system by July 1, 2027.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a specified entity is not required to report data to the department only if the local health department reports the entity’s required data to the department’s designated syndromic surveillance system pursuant to this section by July 1, 2027.
(3) This subdivision does not limit the ability of a local health department to require a specified entity to submit additional data to the local health department in addition to the data required to be submitted to the department.
(c) The data elements, electronic transmission standards, data transmission schedule, and instructions for the data collection required pursuant to this section include, but are not limited to, any element or requirement adopted for use by the CDC’s Public Health Information Network (PHIN) Messaging Guide for Syndromic Surveillance: Emergency Department, Urgent Care, Inpatient and Ambulatory Care Settings, Release 2.0 (April 2015), or any subsequent versions.
(d) No civil or criminal penalty, fine, sanction, or finding, or denial, suspension, or revocation of licensure for any person or facility may be imposed based upon a failure to provide the data elements required pursuant to this chapter, unless the data elements, electronic transmission standards, and data transmission schedule submissions required to be provided by the specified entity was printed in the California Code of Regulations and the department notified the person or facility of the data reporting requirement at least six months prior to the date of the claimed failure to report or submit the data.
(Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 40, Sec. 22. (SB 159) Effective June 29, 2024.)