iHealthBeat reports that the release of hospital preventable infections information to the public could be delayed because of concerns about its validity.
South Carolina hospitals are complying with a May 2006 state law requiring them to report preventable infections to state health officials. The first public report is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2008, but several members of an advisory panel have suggested delaying the release of information until July 2008 in order to validate hospitals’ reports.
Hospitals across the state are using an Internet-based reporting system from CDC to report infections, and CDC this month is expected to release a standard to validate the data hospital’s submit.
To date, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Vermont have reached their goals of publicizing infection rates.
