1. The Department shall establish and maintain a program to increase public awareness of health care information concerning the surgical centers for ambulatory patients in this State. The program must be designed to assist consumers with comparing the quality of care provided by the surgical centers for ambulatory patients in this State and the charges for that care.

2. The program must include, without limitation, the collection, maintenance and provision of information concerning:

(a) The charges imposed on outpatients by each surgical center for ambulatory patients in this State as reported in the forms submitted pursuant to NRS 439A.250;

(b) The quality of care provided by each surgical center for ambulatory patients in this State as determined by applying uniform measures of quality prescribed by the Department pursuant to NRS 439A.250;

(c) How consistently each surgical center for ambulatory patients follows recognized practices to prevent the infection of patients, to speed the recovery of patients and to avoid medical complications of patients;

(d) For each surgical center for ambulatory patients, the total number of patients discharged and the average billed charges, reported for 50 medical treatments for outpatients that the Department determines are most useful for consumers;

(e) To the extent that money is available for that purpose, for each surgical center for ambulatory patients, the name of each physician who performed a surgical procedure in the surgical center for ambulatory patients and the total number of surgical procedures performed by the physician, reported by type of medical treatment, principal diagnosis and, if the information is available, by principal surgical procedure and secondary surgical procedure; and

(f) Any other information relating to the charges imposed and the quality of the services provided by the surgical centers for ambulatory patients in this State which the Department determines is:

(1) Useful to consumers;

(2) Nationally recognized; and

(3) Reported in a standard and reliable manner.

(Added to NRS by 2007, 2351; A 2011, 2661)