Mandates the reporting of all infections contracted in-house.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Chapter

§ -A Definitions. For purposes of this chapter:

"Department" means the department of health.

"Hospital" means a facility licensed as a hospital by the department of health and accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

"Hospital-acquired infection" means a localized or systemic condition that results from adverse reaction to the presence of an infectious agent(s) or its toxin(s) and that was not present or incubating at the time of admission to the hospital.

§ -B Hospital reports. (a) Individual hospitals shall collect data on hospital-acquired infection rates for the specific clinical procedures determined by the Department by regulation, including the following categories:

(1) Surgical site infections;

(2) Ventilator-associated pneumonia;

(3) Central line-related bloodstream infections;

(4) Urinary tract infections; and

(b) Hospitals shall submit quarterly reports on their hospital-acquired infection rates to the department. Quarterly reports shall be submitted, in a format set forth in regulations adopted by the department, to the department by April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31 each year for the previous quarter. Data in quarterly reports must cover a period ending not earlier than one month prior to submission of the report.

(c) If the hospital is a division or subsidiary of another entity that owns or operates other hospitals or related organizations, the quarterly report shall be for the specific division or subsidiary and not for the other entity.

§ -C Advisory committee on infection reporting. (a) The director of the department shall appoint an advisory committee, including:

(b) The advisory committee shall assist the department in the development in all aspects of the department's methodology for collecting, analyzing, and disclosing the information collected under this chapter, including collection methods, formatting, and methods and means for release and dissemination.

(c) In developing the methodology for collecting and analyzing the infection rate data, the department and advisory committee shall consider existing methodologies and systems for data collection, such as the Center for Disease Control's National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, or its successor, however, the department's discretion to adopt a methodology shall not be limited or restricted to any existing methodology or system. The data collection and analysis methodology shall be disclosed to the public prior to any public disclosure of hospital-acquired infection rates.

(d) The department and the advisory committee shall evaluate on a regular basis the quality and accuracy of hospital information reported under this chapter and the data collection, analysis, and dissemination methodologies.

(e) The department, may, after consultation with the advisory committee, require hospitals to collect data on hospital-acquired infection rates in categories additional to those set forth in subsection (a).

§ D Department reports. (a) The department shall annually submit to the legislature a report summarizing the hospital quarterly reports and shall publish the annual report on its website. The first annual report shall be submitted and published in the calendar year following the effective date of this Act. The department may issue quarterly informational bulletins at its discretion, summarizing all or part of the information submitted in the hospital quarterly reports.

(b) All reports issued by the department shall be risk adjusted.

(c) The annual report shall compare the risk-adjusted hospital-acquired infection rates, collected under this chapter, for each individual hospital in the State. The department, in consultation with the advisory committee, shall make this comparison as easy to comprehend as possible. The report shall also include an executive summary, written in plain language, that shall include, but not be limited to, a discussion of findings, conclusions, and trends concerning the overall state of hospital-acquired infections in the State, including a comparison to prior years. The report may include policy recommendations, as appropriate.

(d) The department shall publicize the report and its availability as widely as practical to interested parties, including, but not limited to, hospitals, providers, media organizations, health insurers, health maintenance organizations, purchasers of health insurance, organized labor, consumer or patient advocacy groups, and individual consumers. The annual report shall be made available to any person upon request.

(e) No hospital report or department disclosure may contain information identifying a patient, employee, or licensed health care professional in connection with a specific infection incident.

§ -E Privacy. It is the express intent of the legislature that a patient's right to confidentiality shall not be violated in any manner. Patient social security numbers and any other information that could be used to identify an individual patient shall not be released notwithstanding any other provision of the law.

§ -F Penalties. Upon a determination by the director that a hospital has violated the provisions of this chapter, the director may:

§ -G Regulatory oversight; rulemaking. The department shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with this chapter as a condition of licensure by the department, and shall enforce such compliance. The director shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary for the purposes of this chapter."

SECTION 2. In codifying the new sections added by section 1 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.