(a) The council shall place a high priority on collecting and disseminating data on health professions demonstrating an acute shortage in this state, including:
- (1) data concerning nursing personnel; and
- (2) data concerning the health professions in which shortages occur in rural areas.
- (b) To the extent possible, the council may collect the data from existing sources that the council determines are credible. The council may enter agreements with those sources that establish guidelines concerning the identification, acquisition, transfer, and confidentiality of the data.
(c) At a minimum, the data collected by the council must include the following in regard to health professionals:
- (1) their number and geographic distribution;
- (2) licensure or certification status;
- (3) specialty areas, if applicable; and
- (4) trends or changes in license holders according to number or geographic distribution.
(d) To the extent feasible, the council shall use a researcher with a doctorate in nursing to collect, analyze, and disseminate nursing data that may be used to predict supply and demand for nursing personnel in this state using appropriate federal or state supply-and-demand models. The nursing data must at least:
- (1) include demographics, areas of practice, supply, demand, and migration; and
- (2) be analyzed to identify trends relating to numbers and geographical distribution, practice setting, and area of practice and, to the extent possible, compare those trends with corresponding national trends.
- (e) Data received by the department under this section that contains information identifying specific persons or health care facilities is confidential, is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, and may not be released unless all identifying information is removed.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 40, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1386, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 10, eff. June 20, 2003.