33-32-402. Definitions for external review. For the purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Adverse determination" means a determination by a health insurance issuer or its designated utilization review organization that an admission, availability of care, continued stay, or other health care service that is a covered benefit has been reviewed and, based on the information provided, does not meet the health insurance issuer's requirements for medical necessity, appropriateness, health care setting, level of care, or level of effectiveness and as a result the requested service or payment for the service has been denied, reduced, or terminated.

(2) "Best evidence" means evidence based on:

(a) randomized clinical trials;

(b) a cohort study or case-control study if randomized clinical trials are not available;

(c) a case series if information as provided in subsection (2)(a) or (2)(b) is unavailable; or

(d) an expert opinion if information as provided in subsection (2)(a), (2)(b), or (2)(c) is unavailable.

(3) "Case-control study" means a retrospective evaluation of two groups of patients with different outcomes to determine which specific interventions the patients received.

(4) "Case series" means an evaluation of a series of patients with a particular outcome, without the use of a control group.

(5) "Cohort study" means a prospective evaluation of two groups of patients with only one group of patients receiving a specific intervention.

(6) "Disclose" means to release, transfer, or otherwise divulge protected health information to any person other than the individual who is the subject of the protected health information.

(7) "Evidence-based standard" means the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of the current best evidence based on the overall systematic review of the research in making decisions about the care of individual patients.

(8) "Expert opinion" means a belief or an interpretation by specialists with experience in a specific area about the scientific evidence pertaining to a particular service, intervention, or therapy.

(9) "Health information" means information or data, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, including personal facts or information about events or relationships that relate to:

(a) the past, present, or future physical, mental, or behavioral health or condition of a covered person or a member of the covered person's family;

(b) the provision of health care services to a covered person; or

(c) payment for the provision of health care services to a covered person.

(10) "Independent review organization" means an entity that conducts independent external reviews of adverse determinations and final adverse determinations.

(11) "Medical or scientific evidence" means evidence found in the following sources:

(a) peer-reviewed scientific studies published in or accepted for publication by medical journals that meet nationally recognized requirements for scientific manuscripts and that submit most of their published articles for review by experts who are not part of the editorial staff;

(b) peer-reviewed medical literature, including literature relating to therapies reviewed and approved by a qualified institutional review board, biomedical compendia, and other medical literature that meet the criteria of the national institutes of health's library of medicine for indexing in Index Medicus and Excerpta Medica, published by the Reed Elsevier group;

(c) medical journals recognized by the secretary of health and human services under 42 U.S.C. 1395x(t)(2)(B) of the federal Social Security Act;

(d) the following standard reference compendia:

(i) the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information;

(ii) Drug Facts and Comparisons;

(iii) the American Dental Association Guide to Dental Therapeutics; and

(iv) the United States Pharmacopeia;

(e) findings, studies, or research conducted by or under the auspices of federal government agencies and nationally recognized federal research institutes, including:

(i) the federal agency for healthcare research and quality;

(ii) the national institutes of health;

(iii) the national cancer institute;

(iv) the national academy of sciences;

(v) the centers for medicare and medicaid services;

(vi) the food and drug administration; and

(vii) any national board recognized by the national institutes of health for the purpose of evaluating the medical value of health care services; or

(f) any other medical or scientific evidence that is comparable to the sources listed in subsection (11)(d) or (11)(e).

(12) "NAIC" means the national association of insurance commissioners.

(13) "Protected health information" means health information:

(a) that identifies an individual who is the subject of the information; or

(b) with respect to which there is a reasonable basis to believe that the information could be used to identify an individual.

(14) "Randomized clinical trial" means a controlled, prospective study of patients who have been assigned at random to an experimental group or a control group at the beginning of the study with only the experimental group of patients receiving a specific intervention. The term includes a study of the groups for variables and anticipated outcomes over time.