(a) The Department shall require hospitals and other facilities in the State to report, in a manner determined by rule, each injury allegedly caused by a violent act. The Department shall coordinate this reporting with existing reporting requirements such as trauma and head and neck injury reporting to reduce duplication of reporting. All information and data reported shall be confidential and privileged in accordance with Part 21 of Article VIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, except as provided in subsection (b).
     (b) The Department shall compile the reports required under subsection (a) and shall determine the impact of violent acts on children. The Department shall, using only data from which the identity of an individual cannot be ascertained, reconstructed, or verified and to which the identity of an individual cannot be linked by a recipient of the data, report its findings to the General Assembly by December 31, 1997, and every 2 years thereafter.