Under current law, the Department is required to disseminate reports to the public based on data compiled showing infection incidence rates for certain infections for hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. This act adds other infections to be reported, including: hospital and ambulatory surgical center procedure infections that meet certain requirements, central line-related bloodstream infections, health care-associated infections specified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and other categories of infections established by the Department through rule. The Department shall make such reports available to the public for at least 2 years.

This act requires the Infection Control Advisory Panel to make recommendations to the Department regarding CMS' reporting requirements by January 1, 2017. The panel recommendations shall address which hospitals shall be required, as a condition of licensure, to use specified national networks for data collection, risk analysis and adjustment, or public reporting of infection data. After considering the panel's recommendations, the Department shall implement guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network, or its successor. As a condition of licensure, those hospitals that meet the minimum public reporting requirements shall participate in the National Healthcare Safety Network program. Those hospitals shall permit the program to disclose facility-specific data. Those facilities not participating in the program shall submit facility-specific data to the Department as a condition of licensure.

This act also provides that no later than August 28, 2017, each hospital and ambulatory surgical center, excluding mental health facilities, shall establish an antibiotic stewardship program for evaluating the judicious use of antibiotics, especially antibiotics that are the last line of defense against resistant infections. The stewardship program procedures shall be made available to the Department upon inspection. Hospitals shall meet specified national standards for reporting antimicrobial usage or resistance and shall authorize the National HealthCare Safety Network, or its successor, to disclose to the Department facility-specific reported data. Such data shall not be disclosed to the public except under specific circumstances. Beginning January 1, 2018, and every year thereafter, the Department shall report the General Assembly on the incidence, type, and distribution of antimicrobial-resistant infections in the state.

This act is identical to SB 579 (2016), substantially similar to SCS/HCS/HB 1066 (2015) and similar to provisions in SCS/SB 10 (2015) and SB 910 (2014).

SARAH HASKINS