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An Act To Establish a Method for Reporting Health Care-associated Infection Quality Data
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 24-A MRSA §6951, sub-§10  is enacted to read:
 
10.  Health care provider-specific data.     The forum shall submit to the Legislature, by January 30th each year beginning in 2009, a health care provider-specific performance report. The report must be based on health care quality data, including health care-associated infection quality data, that is submitted by providers to the Maine Health Data Organization pursuant to Title 22, section 8708-A. The forum and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall make the report available to the citizens of the State through a variety of means, including, but not limited to, the forum’s publicly accessible website and the distribution of written reports and publications.
Sec. 2. 24-A MRSA §6951, sub-§11  is enacted to read:
 
11.  Infection prevention activities.     The forum and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall, by January 30th of each year beginning in 2009, report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters on statewide collaborative efforts with health care infection control professionals in the State to control or prevent health care-associated infections.
Sec. 3. Infection measure reporting. The Maine Quality Forum shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters no later than January 30, 2009 with any recommendations from the Maine Quality Forum Advisory Council regarding additional health care-associated infection quality data to be collected from health care providers.
 
SUMMARY
This bill, submitted pursuant to Joint Order 2008, S.P. 907, requires the Maine Quality Forum to submit an annual report to the Legislature that includes health care-associated infection quality data and to report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters by January 30, 2009 with any recommendations for additional health care-associated infection quality data to be collected. It requires the Maine Quality Forum and the Department of Health and Human services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters on statewide collaborative efforts with health care infection control professionals in the State to control or prevent health care-associated infections and to make the information reported about the health care-associated infection quality data available to the citizens of the State through a variety of means, including, but not limited to, the Maine Quality Forum’s publicly accessible website and the distribution of written reports and publications.