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Utah may — or may not be — a step closer to joining a dozen other states that require hospitals to publicly report their infection rates. A bill requiring just that failed on Wednesday to win committee approval.
But in an unusual move, the Health and Human Services Interim Committee endorsed a resolution in support of the measure.
"The bill is not ready for prime time, but we agree on the intent," explained Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem.
The draft legislation would require all hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities to report to the Utah Department of Health any bacterial, viral or fungal infections "acquired by a patient during the course of medical treatment." The department would then publish that data twice yearly on its website.
People are worried about hospital-borne infections and want to know how facilities are working to keep patients safe, said sponsoring Rep. Jack R. Draxler, R-Logan. "I know constituents who have delayed care out of fear [of being harmed]."
Hospitals already report some types of medical harms, including infections, to the state. But the information isn't made public. In the past, health officials have argued against disclosure on grounds that it could have a chilling effect on reporting.
Draxler's bill carries no penalty for failure to report, which raised concerns Wednesday.
"Are there any teeth in this? What if the hospitals don't comply?" asked Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden.
Draxler acknowledged, "We're relying on institutions to be forthright," but said health consumers are demanding greater accountability.
Hospitals are already starting to report infections to the federal government. And Medicare has stopped paying for readmissions for care resulting from medical injuries.
Perhaps for this reason, hospitals didn't oppose Draxler's bill outright.
Alan Dayton, a lobbyist for Intermountain Healthcare, said "disclosing this information is in the best interests of patients, but we need to be careful about how and what we report."
Of concern to hospitals: Draxler's bill requires reporting on a broader array of infections than the feds require and it leaves it to health officials to define which infections are hospital-borne.
The legislation will mean at least $180,000 in added costs to the health department, which is tasked with investigating infections.
It also will cost hospitals, though "that's not a big hurdle," said Dayton. "In the end I think we will have a bill we can pass. We're just not quite there yet."
One in seven Medicare patients are hurt or killed by medical errors each year, costing the government $4.4 billion, according to a report this year by the Office of the Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.