Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research | BILL ANALYSIS |
Health Care & Wellness Committee |
HB 2828
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
Brief Description: Requiring hospitals to report certain health care data.
Sponsors: Representatives Campbell and Morrell.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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Hearing Date: 1/26/10
Staff: Chris Cordes (786-7103).
Background:
The Department of Health (DOH) hospital licensing standards require hospitals to maintain infection control programs to reduce the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections. As a part of this program, hospitals must adopt policies and procedures consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines regarding infection control in hospitals.
Hospitals are also required collect and report data on certain health care-associated infections. This requirement was phased in as follows:
on July 1, 2008, reporting began on central line-associated bloodstream infections in the intensive care unit;
on January 1, 2009, reporting began on ventilator-associated pneumonia; and
on January 1, 2010, reporting began on surgical site infections related to cardiac surgery, total hip and knee replacement, and hysterectomy.
The data on these infections must be collected according to the definitions and methods of the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network. The data must be routinely submitted to the NHSN in accordance with its requirements. Hospitals must release to the DOH, or grant the DOH access to, their hospital-specific information as requested.
Summary of Bill:
The requirement is modified for hospitals to report health-care associated infections for specified surgical sites. Until the National Healthcare Safety Network allows the surgical site infection data to be submitted with aggregate denominator data, hospitals must submit monthly reports to the Washington State Hospital Association's Quality Benchmarking System (QBS).
The data to be submitted to the QBS must include the number of infections and the total number of surgeries performed for each type of surgery. The data must be provided to the DOH on request, and the DOH may validate the data quarterly.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.