Consumers Union and the Washington State Hospital Association are still tangling over legislation approved unanimously by the Legislature to require more reporting by hospitals when patients develop infections during care. The state Department of Health is taking the hospitals' side, opposing requirements to do separate reports for every knee, hip or cardiac surgery. Otherwise, the parties agree on the bill, which is broadly meant to bring the state's reporting requirements into alignment with the demands of President Barack Obama's health care law. House Bill 1471 passed the House and Senate unanimously in the way Consumers Union prefers.
