SB 704 - This act requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to implement a health care quality report card for the purpose of allowing consumers to compare and assess the quality of health care services. The department shall submit the initial plan for the program to the General Assembly by January 1, 2008. Hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, or other health care facilities that may be deemed in the future to fall under the requirements of the report card shall provide such data compliance with this act. The department shall determine which outcome and patient charge data is currently collected from health care facilities under state or federal law as well include such additional measures that are adopted by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Quality Forum, the Joint Commission on Accreditations of Healthcare Organizations, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or any other similar state or national entity that establishes standards to measure the performance of health care providers.
The department, with the guidance of recommendations from a Health Care Quality Advisory Panel or Health Care Quality Report Card Commission, both of which are established under this act, shall promulgate rules specifying the standards and procedures for the collection, analysis, risk adjustment, and reporting of health care quality data.
The initial health care quality report card shall be issued by the department not later than December 31, 2009, and the report card shall be made available on its Internet website. The data on the website shall be disclosed in a manner to allow consumers to conduct an interactive search and compare the information for specific hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers or health care facilities. Administrative penalties may be imposed upon the violation of the provisions of this act.
ADRIANE CROUSE