50-19-402. Statement of policy -- access to information. (1) The prevention of fetal, infant, and child deaths is both the policy of the state of Montana and a community responsibility. Many community professionals have expertise that can be used to promote the health, safety, and welfare of fetuses, infants, and children. The use of these professionals in reviewing fetal, infant, and child deaths can lead to a greater understanding of the causes of death and the methods of preventing deaths. It is the intent of the legislature to encourage local communities to establish voluntary multidisciplinary fetal, infant, and child mortality review teams to study the incidence and causes of fetal, infant, and child deaths and make recommendations for community or statewide change, if appropriate, that may help prevent future deaths.
     (2) A health care provider may disclose information about a patient without the patient's authorization or without the authorization of the representative of a patient who is deceased upon request of a local fetal, infant, and child mortality review team. The review team may request and may receive information from a county attorney as provided in 44-5-303(4), from a tribal attorney, and from a health care provider as permitted in Title 50, chapter 16, part 5, or applicable federal law. The review team shall maintain the confidentiality of the information received.
     (3) The local fetal, infant, and child mortality review team may:
     (a) perform an indepth analysis of fetal, infant, and child deaths, including a review of records available by law;
     (b) compile statistics of fetal, infant, and child mortality and communicate the statistics to the department of public health and human services for inclusion in statistical reports;
     (c) analyze the preventable causes of fetal, infant, and child deaths, including child abuse and neglect; and
     (d) recommend measures to prevent future fetal, infant, and child deaths.
     (4) A local fetal, infant, and child mortality review team may not review deaths of fetuses, infants, or children who are Indians and which deaths occur within the boundaries of an Indian reservation with a tribal government that opposes the review.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 519, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 396, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 413, L. 2003.