studies and statistical report on allied health personnel

studies and statistical report on allied health personnel Sec. 702. (a) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall conduct and complete, not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act, studies— (1) to identify the various types of allied health personnel and the activities in which such personnel are engaged and the various training programs currently offered for allied health personnel; (2) to establish classifications of allied health personnel on the basis of their activities, responsibilities, and training; (3) using appropriate methodologies, to determine the cost of educating and training allied health personnel in each such classification; and 90 STAT. 2310 (4) to identify the classifications in which there are a critical shortage of such personnel and the training programs which should be assisted to meet that shortage. (b) In addition, the Secretary shall, in coordination with the National Center for Health Statistics (established under section 306 of the Public Health Service Act), develop, publish, and disseminate on a nationwide basis a report containing statistics and other information respecting allied health personnel, including— (1) detailed descriptions of the various types of such personnel and the activities in which such personnel are engaged, (2) the current and anticipated needs for the various types of such health personnel, and (3) the number, employment, geographic locations, salaries, and surpluses and shortages of such personnel. (c) (1) The Secretary and each program entity shall in securing and maintaining any record of individually identifiable personal data (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as ‘personal data’) for purposes of this section— (A) inform any individual who is asked to supply personal data whether he is legally required, or may refuse, to supply such data and inform him of any specific consequences known to the Secretary or program entity, as the case may be, of providing or not providing such data; (B) upon request, inform any individual if he is the subject of personal data secured or maintained by the Secretary or program entity, as the case may be, and make the data available to him in a form comprehensible to him; (C) assure that no use is made of personal data which is not within the purposes of this section unless an informed consent has been obtained from the individual who is the subject of such data; and (D) upon request, inform any individual of the use being made of personal data respecting such individual and of the identity of the individuals and entities which will use the data and their relationship to the studies made or information collected under this section. (2) Any entity which maintains a record of personal data and which receives a request from the Secretary or a program entity for data for purposes of this section shall not transfer any such data to the Secretary or to a program entity unless the individual whose personal data is to be so transferred gives an informed consent for such transfer. (3) (A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, personal data collected by the Secretary or any program entity for purposes of this section may not be made available or disclosed by the Secretary or any program entity to any person other than the individual who is the subject of such data unless (i) such person requires such data for purposes of this section, or (ii) in response to a demand for such data made by means of compulsory legal process. Any individual who is the subject of personal data made available or disclosed under clause (ii) shall be notified of the demand for such data. (B) Subject to all applicable laws regarding confidentiality, only the data collected by the Secretary under this section which is not personal data shall be made available to bona fide researchers and policy analysts (including the Congress) for the purposes of assisting in the conduct of studies respecting health professions personnel. (4) For purposes of this subsection, the term “program entity” means any public or private entity which collects, compiles, or analyzes health90 STAT. 2311 professions data under an arrangement with the Secretary for purposes of this section. (d) The Secretary shall submit, not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act, to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the Senate— (1) a report on the results of the studies conducted under subsection (a); (2) the report developed under subsection (b); and (3) a report on, including an evaluation of, activities conducted under subpart II of part G of title VII of the Public Health Service Act (relating to allied health personnel). The report described in paragraph (3) shall contain such recommendations for legislation as the Secretary determines are needed to improve the programs authorized under such subpart. The Office of Management and Budget may review such report before its submission to such Committees, but the Office may not revise the report or delay its submission beyond the date prescribed for its submission and may submit to such Committees its comments respecting such report. (e) For the purposes of this section, the term “allied health personnel” means individuals with training and responsibilities for (1) supporting, complementing, or supplementing the professional functions of physicians, dentists, and other health professionals in the delivery of health care to patients, or (2) assisting environmental engineers and other personnel in environmental health control and preventive medicine activities.