CA Health & Safety Code Section 1288.55

(a)

(1)Each health facility, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1255.8, shall quarterly report all cases of health-care-associated MRSA bloodstream infection, health-care-associated clostridium difficile infection, and health-care-associated Vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bloodstream infection, and the number of inpatient days.

(2)

Each health facility shall report quarterly to the department all central line associated bloodstream infections and the total central line days.

(3)

Each health facility shall report quarterly to the department all health-care-associated surgical site infections of deep or organ space surgical sites, health-care-associated infections of orthopedic surgical sites, cardiac surgical sites, and gastrointestinal surgical sites designated as clean and clean-contaminated, and the number of surgeries involving deep or organ space, and orthopedic, cardiac, and gastrointestinal surgeries designated clean and clean-contaminated.

(b)

The department’s licensing and certification program shall do all of the following:

(1)

Commencing January 1, 2011, post on the department’s Web site information regarding the incidence rate of health-care-acquired central line associated bloodstream infections acquired at each health facility in California, including information on the number of inpatient days.

(2)

Commencing January 1, 2012, post on the department’s Web site information regarding the incidence rate of deep or organ space surgical site infections, orthopedic, cardiac, and gastrointestinal surgical procedures designated as clean and clean-contaminated, acquired at each health facility in California, including information on the number of inpatient days.

(3)

No later than January 1, 2011, post on the department’s Web site information regarding the incidence rate of health-care-associated MRSA bloodstream infection, health-care-associated clostridium difficile infection, and health-care-associated Vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bloodstream infection, at each health facility in California, including information on the number of inpatient days.

(c)

Any information reported publicly as required under this section shall meet all of the following requirements:

(1)

The department shall follow a risk adjustment process that is consistent with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), or its successor, risk adjustment, and use its definitions, unless the department adopts, by regulation, a fair and equitable risk adjustment process that is consistent with the recommendations of the Healthcare Associated Infection Advisory Committee (HAI-AC), established pursuant to Section 1288.5, or its successor.

(2)

For purposes of reporting, as required in subdivisions (a) and (b), an infection shall be reported using the NHSN definitions unless the department accepts the recommendation of the HAI-AC or its successor.

(3)

If the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not use a public reporting model for specific health-care-acquired infections, then the department shall base its public reporting of incidence rate on the number of inpatient days for infection reporting, or the number of specified device days for relevant device-related infections, and the number of specified surgeries conducted for surgical site infection reporting, unless the department adopts a public reporting model that is consistent with recommendations of the HAI-AC or its successor.

(d)

Health facilities that report data pursuant to the system shall report this data to the NHSN and the department, as appropriate.