Sec. 10.14.01.08. Authority and Requirements of the Secretary

A. To assure compliance by a reporting facility, nursing facility, assisted living program, or general hospice care program with Regulation .05 of this chapter, the Secretary may, upon advance notice, inspect a representative sample of medical records, pathology reports, or radiological reports maintained by the facility of cases of reportable human cancer and reportable human CNS tumors.

B. The Secretary may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of providing data reports to appropriate requestors, as allowed by COMAR 10.01.08.04. All applicable fees shall be paid in full in advance of filling the request.

C. After receiving all necessary information to support a request to release cancer registry data, the Secretary shall act in a timely manner and decide on the request with one of the following outcomes:

(1) Final approval;

(2) Interim approval, if the request has been accepted with one or more conditions which shall be met before final approval is granted; or

(3) Disapproval.

D. The Secretary, in accordance with State Government Article, §2-1246, Annotated Code of Maryland, shall submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly on the activities of the cancer registry, including use of cancer registry data.

E. Nothing in this chapter is intended to limit or otherwise restrict the Secretary from obtaining cancer report information on Maryland residents from sources located either inside or outside the State.