PUBLIC Law, Chapter 316, LD 1212, 125th Maine State Legislature
An Act To Improve Hospital Reporting of MRSA and Clostridium difficile Data

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An Act To Improve Hospital Reporting of MRSA and Clostridium difficile Data
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §8761, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 346, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
§ 8761. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile
All hospitals licensed under chapter 405 shall:
 
1.  Enrollment.     No later than October 1, 2011, enroll and shall maintain enrollment after that date in the National Healthcare Safety Network within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, referred to in this section as "the network";
 
2.  Submission of MRSA data.     No later than October 1, 2011, submit to the network infection data for nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, referred to in this section as "MRSA," for all inpatients on a monthly basis in accordance with the protocols defined by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
 
3.  Access to MRSA data.     No later than November 1, 2011, authorize, for public health surveillance purposes only, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's access to the facility-specific infection rates for nosocomial MRSA contained in the network database;
 
4.  Authorization to Maine Health Data Organization regarding MRSA data.     Upon completion of data validation by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with a statewide collaborative for infection prevention, authorize, for public reporting purposes only, the Maine Health Data Organization's access to the facility-specific infection rates for nosocomial MRSA contained in the network database;
 
5.  Submission of C. diff data.     Beginning January 1, 2012, submit to the network infection data for nosocomial Clostridium difficile, referred to in this section as "C. diff," for all inpatients on a monthly basis in accordance with the protocols defined by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
 
6.  Access to C. diff data.     No later than July 1, 2012, authorize, for public health surveillance purposes only, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's access to the facility-specific infection rates for nosocomial C. diff contained in the network database; and
 
7.  Authorization to Maine Health Data Organization regarding C. diff data.     Upon completion of data validation by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with a statewide collaborative for infection prevention, authorize, for public reporting purposes only, the Maine Health Data Organization's access to the facility-specific infection rates for nosocomial C. diff contained in the network database.
The Maine Health Data Organization shall adopt rules regarding public reporting of data reported to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding MRSA and C. diff in accordance with this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2. Rulemaking. The Department of Health and Human Services shall undertake the rulemaking required by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 8761 and must provisionally adopt and submit to the Legislature the rules on public reporting of data reported to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile no later than January 15, 2012.
Sec. 3. Maine Revised Statutes headnote amended; revision clause. In the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, chapter 1684-A, in the chapter headnote, the words "screening for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus" are amended to read "screening for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and clostridium difficile" and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or republishing the statutes.
 
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 125th Legislature, First Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.

HP0903, Signed on 2011-06-13 00:00:00.0 - First Regular Session - 125th Maine Legislature, page