AHA News reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has opened to all U.S. hospitals its Web-based network for tracking healthcare-associated infections. It said the National Healthcare Safety Network has been improved to meet the needs of states with mandatory reporting of HAIs, and that eight states (California, Colorado, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia) plan to use the network in implementing mandatory reporting. CDC said the secured network allows hospitals to analyze the data and share it within a facility or with the general public if desired.
Currently, 17 states have laws requiring public reporting of infection rates: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont and Washington.
