Bill to codify access to maternal and child health data draws wide support from researchers and quality‑improvement groups

Sen. Dung Guareca (District 70) introduced LB446 with an explanation that Nebraska’s vital statistics statute lacks clarity about who may request state maternal and child health data and how quality improvement organizations access it. The bill would codify an annual update requirement for an existing data dashboard, formalize an application process for researchers who want access to de‑identified aggregate records, and explicitly permit the statewide perinatal quality improvement collaborative to receive that aggregate data for quality improvement work.

Researchers and clinical quality leaders gave the committee consistent testimony on the bill’s goals. Chad Abresch of the University of Nebraska Medical Center told senators researchers often must use CDC public files, which lag by years, and that a statutory process would let local scientists and clinicians act on more current trends. Dr. Anna Anderson Berry, medical director for the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPIC), said timely county‑ and facility‑level data are essential for building protocols, targeting interventions for critical‑access and urban hospitals, and measuring whether an initiative reduces harms such as pregnancy‑associated hypertension, hemorrhage or congenital syphilis. NPIC and other proponents argued the dashboard already exists (DHHS published a dashboard in late 2023) but that codifying the dashboard and a researcher application process in statute would ensure continuity and faster access for quality improvement work.

Witnesses described state practice as uneven: they said DHHS can and does provide some data but that legal or administrative steps sometimes delay or block release. Abresch and Dr. Anderson Berry said the bill does not require new data collection or extra reporting; instead it would clarify and speed release of data the department already compiles and sends to the CDC, removing a three‑year lag for local researchers.

Committee members asked about privacy protections and small‑cell suppression. Witnesses said requests would be for de‑identified aggregate data, and they endorsed standard suppressions for small cell counts (e.g., not reporting cells below 10) and other confidentiality protections; those details would be handled as part of HHS’s process and rulemaking. Nebraska organizations including NPIC, UNMC researchers, First 5 Nebraska and several county public‑health leaders testified in favor; DHHS appeared in the neutral column and asked clarifying questions about definitions and workload.

Ending: Proponents urged the committee to advance LB446 so that clinicians, researchers and statewide quality collaboratives can use timely state data to detect problems earlier and measure the effect of local interventions; senators indicated follow‑up questions for DHHS about implementation.