Ohio legislation threatens reporting plan for hospitals

Legislation pushed by the Ohio Hospital Association threatens to derail an effort to inform consumers about certain hospital infections and whether facilities follow practices to reduce infection rates. In August, an Ohio panel recommended a long list of measures that would require public disclosure of hospital infections. The proposal also gives consumers information about whether hospitals monitor hand-washing among staff, whether workers are vaccinated against flu, and how well facilities staff infection-control programs. But an amendment introduced in the Ohio Senate would gut the proposal and hamstring the panel from making future recommendations, officials involved in the process said.