39-71-225. Workers' compensation data base system. (1) The department shall develop a workers' compensation data base system to generate management information about Montana's workers' compensation system. The data base system must be used to collect and compile information from insurers, employers, medical providers, claimants, adjusters, rehabilitation providers, and the legal profession. Data collected must be used to provide management information to the legislative and executive branches for the purpose of making policy and management decisions, including but not limited to:
     (a) performance information to enable the state to enact remedial efforts to ensure quality, control abuse, and enhance cost control;
     (b) information on medical, indemnity, and rehabilitation costs, utilization, and trends; and
     (c) information on litigation and attorney involvement for the purpose of identifying trends, problem areas, and the costs of legal involvement.
     (2) The department is authorized to collect from insurers, employers, medical providers, the legal profession, and others the information necessary to generate the workers' compensation data base system.
     (3) The workers' compensation data base system must be designed in accordance with the following principles:
     (a) avoidance of duplication and inconsistency;
     (b) reasonable availability of data elements;
     (c) value of information collected to be commensurate with the cost of retrieving the collected information;
     (d) uniformity to permit efficiency of collection and to allow interstate comparisons;
     (e) a workable mechanism to ensure the accuracy of the data collected and to protect the confidentiality of collected data;
     (f) reasonable availability of the data at a fair cost to the user;
     (g) a broad application to plan No. 1, plan No. 2, and plan No. 3 insurers;
     (h) compatibility with electronic data reporting;
     (i) reporting procedures that can be handled through private data collection systems that adhere to the provisions of subsections (3)(a) through (3)(h);
     (j) implementation of reporting requirements that allow reasonable lead time for compliance.
     (4) (a) The department shall take all steps necessary to have the workers' compensation data base system fully operational by July 1, 1995.
     (b) After the workers' compensation data base system is operational, the department shall publish an annual report and may publish quarterly reports on the information compiled.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 512, L. 1993.