Erickson Bill to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections Signed Into Law

Will spare patients unnecessary pain, lower healthcare costs.

Harrisburg – Pennsylvania is poised to become a leader in preventing, tracking and, ultimately, reducing the incidence of healthcare‑acquired infections, with the signing into law today of legislation sponsored by Sen. Ted Erickson (R-Delaware.)

Senate Bill 968 will establish the steps to be taken by state government agencies and healthcare facilities to prevent, track, and reduce infections. It will require that hospitals, nursing homes and ambulatory surgical facilities, implement internal infection control plans to improve the health and safety of patients and healthcare workers.

“The technology and resources are available to reduce these infections, which now cause higher hospital bills, unnecessary pain, and even death in some cases. This new law launches a coordinated effort to attack this problem in an effective, measurable way,” said Erickson, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “I commend my colleagues for acting promptly on my legislation, and the governor for signing it into law.”

The senator noted that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect an estimated two million Americans a year, with more than 100,000 dying from bacteria that are increasingly resistant to common antibiotics. It’s estimated that the average additional cost for a patient that develops a healthcare‑associated infection is $8,832.

Other provisions of the law will:

• Ensure that hospitals conduct a strategic assessment of the utility and efficacy of an electronic surveillance system and implement such a system based on the assessment.
• Charge the state Patient Safety Authority with overseeing the reporting of infections and tracking HAIs in Pennsylvania.
• Require insurers and the Medical Assistance Program to reimburse facilities for the cost of infection screenings performed in accordance with an infection control plan.
• Provide a quality improvement payment to a healthcare facility that reduces HAIs by 10 percent or more.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network internet-based surveillance system will be the primary means for hospitals to report healthcare‑associated infections to the Patient Safety Authority, the state Health Department and the Health Care Cost Containment Council.

Hospitals, nursing homes, and ambulatory surgical facilities must implement an infection control plan by the end of 2007.  Facilities then have two months to report infections to the CDC and its surveillance network.  Hospitals must ensure that their electronic or other surveillance tracking system is in place by the end of 2008.

“This law will put Pennsylvania at the forefront in preventing, tracking and, ultimately, reducing the incidence of healthcare‑acquired infections,” said Erickson. “We may not be able to totally eliminate such infections, but we are past the point where they must be considered an inevitable byproduct of healthcare. Many healthcare facilities have taken steps to reduce HAIs in recent years. By working with state government and the CDC, we will put a comprehensive system in place to reduce discomfort, prevent deaths, and lower healthcare costs.”

CONTACT:
Michele Hansarick
(717) 787-1350