New Mexico Statutes Chapter 24. Health and Safety § 24-14A-8. Health information system; confidentiality

A. Health information collected and disseminated pursuant to the Health Information System Act is strictly confidential and shall not be a matter of public record or accessible to the public except as provided in this section and Sections 24-14A-6 and 24-14A-7 NMSA 1978. No data source shall be liable for damages to any person for having furnished the information to the department.

B. Record-level data provided to the department pursuant to Section 24-14A-6 NMSA 1978 are confidential. The agency that receives record-level data shall not disclose the data except to the extent that they are included in a compilation of aggregate data.

C. The individual forms, electronic information or other forms of data collected by and furnished for the health information system shall not be public records subject to inspection pursuant to Section 14-2-1 NMSA 1978. The department may release or disseminate aggregate data, including those data that pertain to a specifically identified hospital or other type of health facility. These data shall be public records if the release of these data does not violate state or federal law relating to the privacy and confidentiality of individually identifiable health information.