Accessing Records CDR teams are not a mechanism for criticizing or second-guessing any agency decisions, they are a forum for the sharing of information essential to the improvement of a community’s response to child fatalities. In this spirit, your review team needs to share information about the child fatality so conclusions can be drawn about the preventability of the fatality being reviewed. When considering what information a team will need to effectively carry out their mandate, there a number of factors to consider: What specific information does the team need? Your decisions, based on the previous section, should answer this for you. What agency or individual has access to the information? This, again, is a time to look at team membership since much of the data will either come directly from team members or will be available from the agency that the team member represents. Are there liaisons to agencies that are not represented on the team? You may also need to enlist the support of persons not on your team, but with access to information. For example, your county clerk may be the best source for death certificates. You may need to meet with him or her, describe your program, and establish a system to receive routine notification of all deaths for the groups reviewed by your team. You may need to develop a relationship with the Director of Medical Records at your local hospital, or ask your team physician to do so for you. Use your team members to help you identify sources of information and to develop relationships with persons to obtain the information. Are there any restrictions on access to information? Are there laws or policies that make it difficult or impossible for the team to access specific information? This may be true, for example, of mental health records. If there are restrictions on access, are there any methods that teams can use to gain access? For example, legislation, memorandums of agreement, etc. You can create a standard letter or form that you can use to request information from various state or local agencies. These letters/forms could be one-time requests or request of a more permanent nature. All teams should have every member sign a confidentiality statement to ensure that information that is shared at a team meeting is kept confidential. These confidentiality statements should also be signed by individuals who are not team members but are participants in particular team reviews. There is also a concern that teams need to address issues regarding access of team information to individuals who are not members of the team. Are the reviews open meetings that can be attended by the public? Are the team's meeting minutes public? If meetings and minutes are open to the public, the team needs to consider what information can or cannot be shared. The team needs to determine if meeting minutes can be subpoenaed in any litigation involving the fatality. State confidentiality laws need to be considered in the types of information discussed at the meeting and the information that goes into the meeting minutes.