N.M. Code R. § 7.4.8.15 – Confidentiality of Records, Proceedings, and Findings

A. Any material obtained pursuant to these rules, any committee proceedings, and findings, including any materials created to facilitate committee proceedings shall be maintained and disposed of in a confidential manner and in any manner as required by law.
B. The following shall be confidential and shall not be subject to the open meetings act or the inspection of public records act or subject to any subpoena, discovery request or introduction into evidence in a civil or criminal proceeding:
1. (1) any meeting, part of a meeting or activity of the committee or executive committee where data or other information is to be discussed and that may result in disclosure to the public of information protected by law; and
2. (2) except as may be necessary in furtherance of the duties of the committee or in response to an alleged violation of a confidentiality agreement entered, any information, record, report, notes, memoranda, or other data that the department or committee obtains pursuant to the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Prevention Act.
C. Only the clinical co-chair and operational staff will have access to medical records, law enforcement reports and vital records data to support the work of the full committee.
1. (1) The coordinator or DOH epidemiologist may share de-identified, aggregate datasets with the CDC and with state, regional, or tribal entities engaged in reducing incidents of maternal mortality or severe maternal morbidity.
2. (2) Identifiable information entered into MMRIA shall only be accessible to the clinical co-chair, coordinator, DOH epidemiologists and abstractors.
D. Before participating in their first committee meeting, each member, operational staff, and any qualified invited guest shall be required to review and sign a confidentiality agreement covering the duration of their membership or service to the committee. Signed confidentiality agreements will be collected and retained by the coordinator.
E. A brief reminder of the confidentiality clause and any other relevant process directives will be presented at the beginning of each case review session.
F. For in-person meetings, case-related materials may not be removed from meetings by any member. At the conclusion of any meeting at which case-related material has been distributed, the coordinator shall collect that material and destroy it.
G. For virtual meetings, case summaries and decision forms shall be distributed electronically via a secure encrypted program, and members shall be instructed to delete the summaries from their inbox, hard-drive or cloud-based storage at the conclusion of the meeting.
[7.4.8.15 - N, NMAC, 11/08/2022]