(d)

1. (1) Any hospital or other facility providing therapy to cancer patients within an area designated as a cancer reporting area shall report each case of cancer to the department or the authorized representative of the department in a format prescribed by the department. If the hospital or other facility fails to report in a format prescribed by the department, the department’s authorized representative may access the information from the hospital or the facility and report it in the appropriate format. In these cases, the hospital or other health facility shall reimburse the department or the authorized representative for its cost to access and report the information.
2. (2) Any physician and surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, or other health care practitioner diagnosing or providing treatment for cancer patients shall report each cancer case to the department or the authorized representative of the department, except for those cases directly referred to a treatment facility or those previously admitted to a treatment facility for diagnoses or treatment of that instance of cancer.

3. (3)

   1. (A) A pathologist or pathology laboratory diagnosing a reportable case of cancer shall report cancer diagnoses to the department utilizing the College of American Pathologists cancer protocols or any other standardized format approved by the department.
   2. (B) Reporting shall be by electronic means, including, but not limited to, either directly from an electronic medical record or using a designated internet web portal that the department shall provide for pathologists’ use. If a pathologist fails to report electronically and with an approved format, the department’s authorized representative may access the information from the pathologist in an appropriate alternative format. In these cases, the pathologist shall reimburse the department or the authorized representative for its cost to access and report the information.
   3. (C) A pathologist shall not be responsible for acquiring missing or inaccessible patient demographic information not provided to them beyond the content of the required cancer-specific data elements.
   4. (D) For purposes of reports submitted pursuant to this paragraph, the department shall prescribe the data required to be included in the report, work collaboratively with stakeholders to designate a standardized electronic format for submission, and designate an internet web portal for electronic submission.
   5. (E) This paragraph shall not be interpreted to require a pathologist to submit the same pathology report to the department, regardless of format, more than once, unless deemed necessary by the department or its authorized representative. If the department deems a pathologist noncompliant with this paragraph, the department shall notify the pathologist of the deficiencies and provide an opportunity to cure those deficiencies. The department shall not impose fines or other penalties solely based on a pathologist’s failure to comply with this paragraph.

(g)

1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all information collected pursuant to this section shall be confidential. For purposes of this section, this information shall be referred to as “confidential information.”
2. (2) The department and any regional cancer registry designated by the department shall use the information to determine the sources of malignant neoplasms and evaluate measures designed to eliminate, alleviate, or ameliorate their effect.
3. (3) Persons with a valid scientific interest who are engaged in demographic, epidemiological, or other similar studies related to health who meet qualifications as determined by the department, and who agree, in writing, to maintain confidentiality, may be authorized access to confidential information.

4. (4) The department and any regional cancer registry designated by the department may enter into agreements to furnish confidential information to other states’ cancer registries, federal cancer control agencies, local health officers, or health researchers for the purposes of determining the sources of cancer and evaluating measures designed to eliminate, alleviate, or ameliorate their effect. Before confidential information is disclosed to those agencies, officers, researchers, or out-of-state registries, the requesting entity shall agree in writing to maintain the confidentiality of the information, and in the case of researchers with a valid scientific interest as described in paragraph (3), shall also do both of the following:

   1. (A) Obtain approval of their committee for the protection of human subjects established in accordance with Part 46 (commencing with Section 46.101) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
   2. (B) Provide documentation to the department that demonstrates to the department’s satisfaction that the entity has established the procedures and ability to maintain the confidentiality of the information.
5. (5) Notwithstanding any other law, any disclosure authorized by this section shall include only the information necessary for the stated purpose of the requested disclosure, used for the approved purpose, and not be further disclosed, unless the original disclosure is for research that requires the researchers to participate in data sharing with federal or federally designated data repositories or with researchers under the direction and control of the originally approved data recipient who remains the researcher responsible for data security and integrity provided the data being disclosed does not contain individually identifiable data that could be reasonably used to identify or reidentify the data with an individual person.
6. (6) The furnishing of confidential information to the department or its authorized representative in accordance with this section shall not expose any person, agency, or entity furnishing information to liability, and shall not be considered a waiver of any privilege or a violation of a confidential relationship.
7. (7) The department shall maintain an accurate record of all persons who are given access to confidential information. The record shall include: the name of the person authorizing access; name, title, address, and organizational affiliation of persons given access; dates of access; and the specific purpose for which information is to be used. The record of access shall be open to public inspection during normal operating hours of the department.
8. (8) Notwithstanding any other law, no part of the confidential information shall be available for subpoena, nor shall it be disclosed, discoverable, or compelled to be produced in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other proceeding, nor shall this information be deemed admissible as evidence in any civil, criminal, administrative, or other tribunal or court for any reason.
9. (9) This subdivision does not prohibit the publication by the department of reports and statistical compilations that do not in any way identify individual cases or individual sources of information.
10. (10) Notwithstanding the restrictions in this subdivision, the individual to whom the information pertains shall have access to their own information in accordance with Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code.

(h) For the purpose of this section, “cancer” means either of the following:

1. (1) All malignant neoplasms, regardless of the tissue of origin, including malignant lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and leukemia, but excluding basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
2. (2) All primary intracranial and central nervous system (CNS) tumors occurring in the following sites, irrespective of histologic type: brain, meninges, spinal cord, caudae equina, cranial nerves and other parts of the CNS, pituitary gland, pineal gland, and craniopharyngeal duct.