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The Utah House has endorsed a move that would require hospitals to report their infection rates and have them posted on a user-friendly state website.
HB55 passed 48-22 on Tuesday and goes to the Senate.
Its sponsor, Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, said having that information more easily available to the public would reward hospitals, surgical centers and dialysis centers that do a good job, while pushing others to improve. He said while those figures are reported to federal officials, they are difficult to find.
The bill would require the health-care centers to report to the Utah Department of Health a slew of hospital-borne infections as defined by the federal health officials. The department would publish the data on its website, naming hospitals but giving them 30 days to contest any errors.
A fiscal note estimates it would cost an extra $131,600 a year, which brought some opposition from members who complained it would duplicate tracking by the federal government.
Lee Davidson