Hospital report cards

§ 2995-b. Hospital report cards. 1. Collection. The department shall collect the following hospital data for dissemination to inform consumer decisionmaking via a statewide health information system:

(a) Utilization and performance information to promote quality improvement activities which was collected and evaluated for appropriate dissemination pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of the former section twenty-eight hundred seven-n of this chapter, as added by section sixty of chapter six hundred thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six;

(b) Statewide performance data comparing utilization and selected performance measures to accepted norms and/or benchmarks developed by recognized experts, which were developed pursuant to subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of the former section twenty-eight hundred seven-n of this chapter, as added by section sixty of chapter six hundred thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six; and

(c) Other hospital data, if any, collected for public dissemination by the state task force on health care quality improvement pursuant to the former section twenty-eight hundred four-b of this chapter, as added by section sixty-a of chapter six hundred thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six.

2. Preparation of data and public review. The department shall thereafter prepare and risk-adjust as appropriate the collected hospital data for dissemination pursuant to the former subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred four-b of this chapter, as added by section sixty-a of chapter six hundred thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six. The department shall coordinate its efforts with programs of the national forum for health care quality measurement and reporting (quality forum). The department shall provide each hospital with a copy of the hospital data to be disseminated concerning it. In a manner and time required by the department, the hospital shall be provided with an opportunity to correct factual inaccuracies, and to file a statement in a form prescribed by the department concerning the data, which statement shall be disseminated with such data.

3. Dissemination. The department shall thereafter disseminate the collected hospital data, with corrections and statements, if any.

(a) Thereafter, the hospital data so disseminated shall be updated at regular intervals to be determined by the department.

(b) All hospital data disseminated shall include the following statement: "THE DATA COLLECTED BY THE DEPARTMENT IS ACCURATE TO THE BEST OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEPARTMENT, BASED ON THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY THE HOSPITAL WHICH IS THE SUBJECT OF THE DATA."

(c) If the department determines that any data to be disseminated pursuant to this section is not useful for making quality determinations, the department shall recommend to the legislature the necessary statutory changes.