Ohio hospitals will be required to report infection information to consumers. The Hospital Measures Advisory Council, created by a 2006 law, recommended hospitals disclose common infections, and whether facilities are vigilant about hand-washing and other practices that reduce infection risk.
The advisory council spent 13 months on the reporting requirements – under the plan, hospitals will report on a consumer Web site data on surgical wound infections, antibiotic-resistant staph and clostridium difficile (C. diff), a type of intestinal infection that has risen sharply in recent years.
Reporting is expected to start in 2009 and be available on the Web starting in January 2010.
