The department must maintain a statewide infection database and reporting system, and the commissioner must publish annual infection reports unless validation standards are not met.
I. The department shall maintain a statewide database of all reported infection information and/or coverage rates of influenza vaccinations as required in RSA 151:33 for the purpose of monitoring quality improvement and infection control activities in hospitals, end-stage renal dialysis centers, nursing and other residential care facilities, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residences, and ambulatory surgical facilities. The database shall be organized so that consumers, hospitals, end-stage renal dialysis centers, nursing and other residential care facilities, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residences, ambulatory surgical facilities, health care professionals, purchasers, and payers may compare individual hospital, end-stage renal dialysis center, nursing and other residential care facility, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residence, and ambulatory surgical facility experience with that of other individual hospitals, end-stage renal dialysis centers, nursing and other residential care facilities, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residences, and ambulatory surgical facilities as well as regional and statewide averages and, where available, national data. II. (a) Subject to subparagraph (b), on or before August 1 of each year, provided that the data collection and analytical methodologies meet accepted standards for validity and reliability, the commissioner shall report on the department's web site infection rates for each reporting hospital, end-stage renal dialysis center, nursing and other residential care facility, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living facility, and ambulatory surgical facility, an analysis of trends in the prevention and control of infection rates and coverage rates of influenza vaccinations as required in RSA 151:33 in hospitals, end-stage renal dialysis centers, nursing and other residential care facilities, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residences, and ambulatory surgical facilities across the state, regional and, if available, national comparisons for the purpose of comparing individual hospital, end-stage renal dialysis center, nursing and other residential care facility, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living facility, and ambulatory surgical facility performance, and a narrative describing lessons for safety and quality improvement that can be learned from leadership hospitals and programs. (b) The department shall maintain an infection reporting system capable of receiving electronically transmitted reports from hospitals, end-stage renal dialysis centers, nursing and other residential care facilities, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residences, and ambulatory surgical facilities. End-stage renal dialysis centers, nursing and other residential care facilities, the New Hampshire veterans' home, and assisted living residences shall begin to submit reports as required by this section within 6 months of the effective date of this section. III. To assure the accuracy of the self-reported hospital, end-stage renal dialysis center, and ambulatory surgical facility infection data and to assure that public reporting fairly reflects what actually is occurring in each hospital, end-stage renal dialysis center, and ambulatory surgical facility, the department shall validate the results and the methodology used to collect and analyze the data. If the commissioner concludes that he or she is unable to adequately validate the data, the commissioner shall notify the oversight committee on health and human services of that fact and the reasons therefor and, in that case, the commissioner shall not be required to include hospital, end-stage renal dialysis center, nursing and other residential care facility, the New Hampshire veterans' home, assisted living residence, and ambulatory surgical facility identifiers in the information released to the public. IV. In addition to the department's reporting responsibilities under this section, the department shall beginning in 2012 make a biennial report to the oversight committee on health and human services and the house and senate ways and means committees on or before August 1, regarding the health care associated infections program costs, the amount of federal funding received for the program, and the amount of fees paid by hospitals, end-stage renal dialysis centers, and ambulatory surgical centers to support the program. Source: Source. 2006, 292:1, eff. July 1, 2007. 2010, 77:5, eff. July 1, 2011. 2012, 117:2, 5, eff. July 1, 2012. 2016, 192:1, eff. Aug. 2, 2016.