§ 1913. Creation; implementation

(a) The Commissioner shall establish a comprehensive patient safety surveillance and improvement system for the purpose of improving patient safety, eliminating adverse events in Vermont hospitals, and supporting and facilitating quality improvement efforts by hospitals. The Department may contract with a qualified organization having expertise in patient safety to develop and implement all or part of the safety system.

(b) The Department shall:

(1) collect data concerning the occurrence of reportable adverse events;

(2) aggregate and analyze data for the purpose of developing and implementing strategies to target and eliminate specific adverse events;

(3) verify that hospitals are in compliance with all the requirements of this chapter and regulations adopted hereunder;

(4) for reportable adverse events, verify that hospitals are conducting causal analyses and developing corrective action plans consistent with standards set by the Department, current patient safety science, and relevant clinical standards;

(5) provide technical assistance or assist hospitals in locating technical assistance resources for analyzing adverse events and near misses and developing and implementing corrective action plans; and

(6) encourage hospitals to utilize anonymous in-hospital reporting when possible.

(c) The Commissioner may retain or contract with such additional professional or other staff as needed to carry out responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) Beginning on July 1, 2007, expenses incurred for development and implementation of the safety system shall be borne as follows: 50 percent from General Fund monies and 50 percent by the hospitals.

(e) Not later than January 15, 2008, the Commissioner of Health shall provide an interim report to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare and the House Committees on Human Services and on Health Care on the status of the safety system, its effectiveness in improving patient safety and health care quality in the State, and cost savings. Not later than January 15, 2009, the Commissioner shall make a final report to those Committees on those subjects and shall make recommendations regarding expansion of the system to include health care facilities other than hospitals.

(f) The authority granted to the Commissioner under this chapter is in addition to any other authority granted to the Commissioner under law. (Added 2005, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 324.)