NYC Hospital Group to Publicize Error Rates
“We're going to see more and more hospitals taking responsibility like this,” he predicted. “This is the end of the beginning, and the beginning of something new.”
Advocates Want National Reporting Law
States may prove an invaluable laboratory for the eventual adoption of a national law requiring all hospitals to publicly report their rates of nosocomial infections, according to Lisa McGiffert, manager of the Consumers Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign.
To date, 19 states have adopted such laws, which vary widely in the type of data collected and in their dissemination, Ms. McGiffert said in an interview.
There is some benefit to having the states figure out the best method for collecting and sharing this information, she said. “We feel that it's very important to engage in this exercise before there are any national standards created. When that does happen, we want the law to be based on real-life experience, not someone's theoretical ideas of how it should go.”
The nonprofit Stop Hospital Infections project, run by the same company that publishes Consumer Reports, works to enact state laws that publicly disclose hospital rates of nosocomial infections. But the group's ultimate goal is a national law that would enact a uniform data collection and reporting system.
A prototype bill, the Healthy Hospitals Act of 2007, was introduced into the House last February, Ms. McGiffert said. Sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), the bill would require public reporting of health care-associated infections data by hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.
H.R. 1174 implies a stick but offers a carrot. Hospitals with poor results could suffer if consumers choose a competing facility that has a better rating, but they would also be eligible for financial incentives or grants under Medicaid if they improved their infection rates.
Just when such a bill might come up for voting is unknown. In the meantime, the group continues to promote legislative action on the state level. All but four states (Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming) have at least debated legislation requiring some form of public disclosure of hospital infection and error rates. New Jersey has adopted a public reporting bill that awaits the governor's signature.
An overview of the existing legislation may be found at
