[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 863 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 863
To require medicare providers to disclose publicly staffing and
performance in order to promote improved consumer information and
choice.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 10, 2001
Mr. Reid introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require medicare providers to disclose publicly staffing and
performance in order to promote improved consumer information and
choice.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Patient Safety Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF STAFFING AND OUTCOMES DATA.
(a) Disclosure of Staffing and Outcomes.--Any provider under the
medicare program shall, as a condition of continued participation in
such program, make publicly available information regarding nurse
staffing and patient outcomes as specified by the Secretary. Such
information shall include at least the following:
(1) The number of registered nurses providing direct care.
This information shall be expressed both in raw numbers, in
terms of total hours of nursing care per patient (including
adjustment for case mix and acuity), and as a percentage of
nursing staff, and shall be broken down in terms of the total
nursing staff, each unit, and each shift.
(2) The number of licensed practical nurses or licensed
vocational nurses providing direct care. This information shall
be expressed both in raw numbers, in terms of total hours of
nursing care per patient (including adjustment for case mix and
acuity), and as a percentage of nursing staff, and shall be
broken down in terms of the total nursing staff, each unit, and
each shift.
(3) Numbers of unlicensed personnel utilized to provide
direct patient care. This information shall be expressed both
in raw numbers and as a percentage of nursing staff and shall
be broken down in terms of the total nursing staff, each unit,
and each shift.
(4) The average number of patients per registered nurse
providing direct patient care. This information shall be broken
down in terms of the total nursing staff, each unit, and each
shift.
(5) Risk-adjusted patient mortality rate (in raw numbers
and by diagnosis or diagnostic-related group).
(6) Incidence of adverse patient care incidents, including
as such incidents at least medication errors, patient injury,
pressure ulcers, nosocomial infections, and nosocomial urinary
tract infections.
(7) Methods used for determining and adjusting staffing
levels and patient care needs and the provider's compliance
with these methods.
(b) Disclosure of Complaints.--Data regarding complaints filed with
the State agency, the Health Care Financing Administration, or an
accrediting agency, compliance with the standards of which have been
deemed to demonstrate compliance with conditions of participation under
the medicare program, and data regarding investigations and findings as
a result of those complaints and the findings of scheduled inspection
visits, shall be made publicly available.
(c) Information on Data.--All data made publicly available under
this section shall indicate the source and currency of the data
provided.
(d) Waiver for Small Providers.--The Secretary may waive or reduce
reporting requirements under this section in the case of a small
provider (as defined by the Secretary) for whom the imposition of the
requirements would be unduly burdensome.
(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Licensed practical nurse or licensed vocational
nurse.--The term ``licensed practical nurse or licensed
vocational nurse'' means an individual who is entitled under
State law or regulation to practice as a licensed practical
nurse or a licensed vocational nurse.
(2) Made publicly available.--The term ``made publicly
available'' means, with respect to information of a provider,
information that is--
(A) provided to the Secretary and to any State
agency responsible for licensing or accrediting the
provider;
(B) provided to any State agency which approves or
oversees health care services delivered by the provider
directly or through an insuring entity or corporation;
and
(C) provided to any member of the public which
requests such information directly from the provider.
(3) Medicare program.--The term ``medicare program'' means
the programs under title XVIII of the Social Security Act.
(4) Provider.--The term ``provider'' means an entity that
is--
(A) a psychiatric hospital described in section
1861(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395x(f));
(B) a provider of services described in section
1861(u) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(u));
(C) a rural health clinic described in section
1861(aa)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(2));
(D) an ambulatory surgical center described in
section 1832(a)(2)(F)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1395k(a)(2)(F)(i)); or
(E) a renal dialysis facility described in section
1881(b)(1)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395rr(b)(1)(A)).
(5) Registered nurse.--The term ``registered nurse'' means
an individual who is entitled under State law or regulation to
practice as a registered nurse.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
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