1. (a) Release of nonidentifying information.

   1. (1) To federal agencies. The ACCR is authorized to collaborate with the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide cancer incidence statistics and participate in cancer studies.

   2. (2) To the Department of Health.

      1. (A) The ACCR shall work closely with the Department of Health in investigating cancer-related issues and in evaluating programs.
      2. (B) Because the ACCR data are an integral part of the department’s cancer prevention and control programs, the use of registry data by public health officials shall be considered an in-house activity.
      3. (C) Data required by the department for responding to concerns expressed about threats to the public shall receive priority in determining the order of processing requests.

   3. (3) To the general public.

      1. (A) Public reports published by the ACCR shall include:

2. (i) Aggregate, not patient identifying information; or

   1. (ii) Facility identifying information.

      1. (B) Information that would potentially identify a cancer patient shall not be published.
   2. (4) To others. The ACCR is authorized to collaborate with the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) to provide cancer incidence statistics and participate in cancer studies.
   3. (5) To qualified cancer researchers. The ACCR is authorized to collaborate with the Arkansas Cancer Coalition to provide cancer statistics and participate in cancer studies with qualified researchers.

3. (b) Release of identifying information.

   1. (1) Identifying information collected from any hospital, laboratory, facility, or health care practitioner may be released to qualified persons for the purposes of cancer prevention, control, and research as approved by the department.

   2. (2) Actual costs of the data linkage shall be borne by the qualified researcher.

      1. (c) Interstate exchange of data.

   3. (1) Because cancer patients may be diagnosed or receive treatment in another state, the ACCR is authorized to:

      1. (A) Sign agreements with other states to acquire cancer data concerning Arkansas residents; and
      2. (B) In return, to provide those states with data relating to their residents.
   4. (2) Each signatory state shall agree in writing to keep all patient data confidential and privileged as defined in the contract for data exchange.

Codification Notes: "ACCR" means Arkansas Central Cancer Registry.