§ 9405b. Hospital community reports and ambulatory surgical center quality reports

(a) The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with representatives from hospitals, other groups of health care professionals, and members of the public representing patient interests, shall adopt rules establishing a statewide comparative hospital quality report. Hospitals located outside this State which serve a significant number of Vermont residents, as determined by the Commissioner of Health, shall be invited to participate in the community report process established by this section. The report shall include:

(1) Measures of quality, including process and performance measures, that are valid, reliable, and useful, including comparisons to appropriate national benchmarks for high quality and successful results.

(2) Measures of patient safety that are valid, reliable, and useful, including comparisons to appropriate industry benchmarks for safety.

(3) Measures of hospital-acquired infections that are valid, reliable, and useful, including comparisons to appropriate industry benchmarks.

(4) Valid, reliable, and useful information on nurse staffing, including comparisons to appropriate industry benchmarks for safety. This information may include system-centered measures such as skill mix, nursing care hours per patient day, and other system-centered measures for which reliable industry benchmarks become available.

(5) Measures of the hospital’s financial health, including comparisons to appropriate national benchmarks for efficient operation and fiscal health.

(6) A summary of the hospital’s budget, including revenue by source, the one-year and four-year capital expenditure plans, the depreciation schedule for existing facilities, and quantification of cost shifting to private payers.

(7) Data that provides valid, reliable, useful, and efficient information for payers and the public for the comparison of charges for higher volume health care services.

(b) Each hospital shall publish on its website:

(1) the hospital’s process for achieving openness, inclusiveness, and meaningful public participation in its strategic planning and decision making;

(2) the hospital’s consumer complaint resolution process, including identification of the hospital officer or employee responsible for its implementation;

(3) information on membership and governing body qualifications; a listing of the current governing body members, including each member’s name, town of residence, occupation, employer, and job title, and the amount of compensation, if any, for serving on the governing body; and means of obtaining a schedule of meetings of the hospital’s governing body, including times scheduled for public participation; and

(4) a link to the comparative statewide hospital quality report.

(c) The Commissioner of Health shall publish the statewide comparative hospital quality report on a public website and shall update the report at least annually beginning on June 1, 2017.

(d) The Commissioner of Health shall publish or otherwise make publicly available on its website each ambulatory surgical center’s performance results from quality reporting programs offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and shall update the information at least annually. (Added 2003, No. 53, § 5; amended 2005, No. 71, § 77b; 2005, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2005, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 327; 2007, No. 27, § 5; 2011, No. 48, § 22; 2013, No. 79, § 38; 2015, No. 11, § 22; 2015, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 31, 2016; 2019, No. 55, § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.)