What's more outrageous than becoming sicker in the hospital than when you went in, especially when it's due to sloppy practices by hospital employees?
That doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Thanks to a new state law, the public will be able to see when and where hospital-acquired infections occur in Washington, starting in 2009.
But, just as that light has been directed on that data, another public-information light bulb has been disconnected. If the state Attorney General's Office can't screw the bulb in again, the Legislature should do it in January.
Hospital-acquired infections: State Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Spanaway, spearheaded passage this year of a hospital-acquired infection reporting law, House Bill 1106. Thanks to 1106, the public will be able to check a Department of Health Web site beginning by December 2009 and see how many patients were infected in which hospitals in this state. (Patients' names will not be released.)
The relevance of this new law has increased substantially in recent weeks as news has spread across the country of MRSA - methacillin-resistent staphylococcus aureus. Almost daily there are news stories about MRSA illnesses and deaths across the country, with passages such as this by The Associated Press:
"People in health care settings, like hospitals and nursing homes, are most at risk for MRSA infections. Doctors and nurses who treat staph-infected patients and then don't carefully wash up can spread the germ to other patients. Germ-contaminated medical devices used on people having dialysis or medical procedures also can spread staph."
Proponents of 1106 made a compelling argument when they said it would bring more pressure on hospitals, nursing homes, etc., to make sure employees go the extra mile to prevent infections.
Adverse events: On another front, information about hospitals' "adverse events" has been accessible to the public in recent years - until now.
"Adverse event" is a euphemism for such medical goofs as leaving forceps inside a surgery patient, operating on the wrong limb and removing the appendix when the problem was with the gall bladder. A 2000 state law said information about adverse events shall be public - information such as dates and the names of hospitals where foreign objects were left in 36 surgery patients statewide in the past year and where 21 people had surgery on the wrong body parts.
But the state Hospital Association, which didn't like that much openness about adverse events, argued that a related 2006 law negated that part of the 2000 law. That forced the hand of the state Department of Health. Based on an informal attorney general's opinion, it recently ceased releasing that information.
The public reaction this week to that action was swift and negative. The hospital association, to its credit, and hoping to avoid a public relations mess, now says it will support Campbell in his bid to get the law clarified and keep the records open. That beats a gall bladder-appendix mixup any day.