A state-appointed panel on Wednesday recommended that Massachusetts hospitals be mandated to report some hospital-acquired infection rates to the public, the state and internally, the Boston Herald reports.
The panel has spent months deliberating over how to reduce or eliminate hospital infections and on Wednesday also released a 220-page report detailing 135 measures to reduce the infections.
In addition, the state Legislature is working on a plan to mandate infection reporting, although only the Public Health Council has the power to approve such regulations, the Herald reports.
Some Boston hospitals already publicly post infection rates, but the practice has not been standardized and has been controversial, according to the Herald. Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, last year began posting some of the hospital's infection rates on his blog.
The state-appointed panel recommended that hospitals be required to report some infection data publicly, to the state and internally. If the panel's plan is approved, a Web site for state residents to view the infection data could be launched as early as next year (Fargen, Boston Herald, 8/9).