[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S4804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID:
  S. 966. A bill to require Medicare providers to disclose publicly 
staffing and performance in order to promote improved consumer 
information and choice, to protect employees of Medicare providers who 
report concerns about the safety and quality of services provided by 
the Medicare providers or who report violations of Federal or State law 
by those providers, and to require review of the impact on public 
health and safety of proposed mergers and acquisitions of Medicare 
providers; to the Committee on Finance.


                       patient safety at of 1999

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Patient Safety 
Act of 1999. This legislation focuses on the major safety, quality, and 
workforce issues for nurses employed by health care institutions and 
the patients who receive care in these facilities.
  Health care consumers need access to information about health care 
institutions in order to make informed decisions about where they or 
their loved ones will receive care. My bill would require health care 
facilties to make information publicly available about staffing levels, 
patient care outcomes, and specific kinds of errors and avoidable 
patient care problems--such as bedsores. The Patient Safety Act would 
not require action to correct these problems. This is not a bill to 
regulate health care, but one that would provide individuals with the 
information they want and need when it comes time to make important 
health care choices.
  As our front-line health care workers, nurses are usually the first 
to recognize dangerous patient care conditions. The Patient Safety Act 
would provide nurses and other hospital employees with 
``whistleblower'' protections it they report problems that threaten 
patient safety to their employers, government agencies, or others.
  Finally, the Patient Safety Act would dirct the Department of Health 
and Human Services to review mergers and acqusitions of hospitals to 
determine their long-term effects on the well-being of patients, the 
community and employees. While these types of transactions are 
regularly evaluated from a financial standpoint, little information is 
made available to the public about hwo such a change would affect the 
health care services available to them.
  The Patient Safety Act is a valuable information resource for 
consumers. I urge you to join my efforts to provide consumers with the 
data necessary to make informed decisions about their health care 
providers.
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