2012 Delaware Code
Title 16 - Health and Safety
CHAPTER 10A. HOSPITAL INFECTIONS DISCLOSURE ACT
§ 1004A. Department reports.

(a) The Department shall annually submit to the legislature a report summarizing the hospital quarterly reports and shall publish the annual report on its website. The first annual report shall be and published no later than June 30, 2009. Following the initial report, the Department shall update the public information on a quarterly basis.

(b) All reports issued by the Department shall be risk adjusted, or use some other method to account for the differences in patient populations among hospitals.

(c) The annual report shall compare hospital-acquired infection rates to national rates published by the CDC's NHSN program and collected pursuant to this chapter for each individual hospital in the State. The Department, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, shall make this report as easy to comprehend as possible. The report shall also include an executive summary, written in plain language that shall include but not be limited to a discussion of findings, conclusions and trends concerning the overall state of hospital-acquired infections in the State, including a comparison to prior years. The report may include policy recommendations, as appropriate.

(d) The Department shall publicize the report and its availability as widely as practical to interested parties, including but not limited to hospitals, providers, media organizations, health insurers, health maintenance organizations, purchasers of health insurance, organized labor, consumer or patient advocacy groups and individual consumers. The annual report shall be made available to any person upon request.

(e) No hospital report or Department disclosure may contain information identifying a patient, employee or licensed health care professional in connection with a specific infection incident.

76 Del. Laws, c. 122, § 1.;