Bill Text: NJ A3808 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain health care facilities to adopt certain infection control strategies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-17 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A3808 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A3808-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain health care facilities to adopt certain infection control strategies.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning infection prevention and control in certain health care facilities and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares:
a. Infections due to antimicrobial-resistant organisms such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) are increasingly prevalent in health care settings;
b. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), MRSA infections accounted for 2% of the total number of staph infections in 1974, but by 2004 they accounted for more than 60%;
c. The annual nationwide cost to treat hospitalized patients with MRSA is estimated to be between $3.2 billion and $4.2 billion;
d. MRSA and VRE can remain on contaminated cloth and plastic surfaces for up to 90 days, and standard precautions which require health care workers to clean their hands before and after contact with each patient are not effective because health care worker contact with patients who have MRSA or VRE often results in the invisible contamination of workers' clothing and medical equipment, and thus transmission of MRSA or VRE to other patients;
e. The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) published guidelines in 2003 designed to control hospital-acquired MRSA and VRE by adopting a three-pronged approach to infection control, including: (1) identification and contact isolation of carriers of MRSA and VRE; (2) strict adherence to hand washing and hygiene guidelines; and (3) prudent use of antimicrobial agents;
f. Routine screening for MRSA and isolation of all patients with MRSA in hospitals in Denmark and Holland have reduced MRSA to 10% of their bacterial infections, compared with 60% of bacterial infections in the United States;
g. Dozens of peer-reviewed studies and routine use of the SHEA guidelines by individual institutions in the United States have shown that the SHEA guidelines are effective in significantly controlling MRSA and VRE;
h. Facilities which have implemented the SHEA guidelines have experienced a significant economic benefit, indicating that it is much less expensive to follow the guidelines and control epidemic spread than to incur expense in treating antimicrobial-resistant infections;
i. It is appropriate to ensure that New Jersey's residents have access to safe care in health care facilities by implementing SHEA guidelines to help protect the health and lives of New Jersey residents, increase the economic viability of New Jersey's health care institutions, and reduce State expenditures for MRSA and VRE.
2. Within six months after the effective date of this act, the Department of Health and Senior Services shall require each general hospital, comprehensive rehabilitation hospital, and nursing home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) to:
a. establish a written infections prevention and control policy which incorporates best practices in infection control identified by the commissioner, including the guidelines published by SHEA; and
b. report all incidents of MRSA and VRE to the department, in a form and manner determined by the commissioner.
3. A health care facility listed in section 2 of this act shall implement a written infections prevention and control policy in accordance with standards set by the commissioner. The policy shall incorporate guidelines, which shall include:
a. identification of colonized or infected patients through screening of every patient upon admission;
b. isolation of identified patients in an appropriate manner; and
c. strict adherence to hand washing and hygiene guidelines.
4. Within 18 months after the effective date of this act, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Senate and General Assembly standing reference committees on health, on the effect of this act in reducing the incidence of MRSA and VRE in health care facilities.
5. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services shall adopt regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to carry out the purposes of this act.
6. This act shall take effect 90 days after enactment, but the commissioner may take such anticipatory action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires State-licensed general hospitals, comprehensive rehabilitation hospitals, and nursing homes to implement infection-control practices that incorporate guidelines established by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), in order to reduce the number of health care facility-acquired infections, especially infections due to antimicrobial-resistant organisms such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus (VRE). The SHEA guidelines include a three-pronged approach to infection control: (1) screen and isolate carriers of MRSA and VRE; (2) adhere strictly to hand washing and hygiene guidelines; and (3) use antimicrobial agents prudently.
Recent cost estimates for treating hospitalized patients with MRSA in the United States are between $3.2 billion and $4.2 billion per year. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that MRSA infections accounted for 2% of all staph infections in 1974, but by 2004 they accounted for more than 60%. In contrast, hospitals in Denmark and Holland have reduced MRSA to 10% of bacterial infections through certain practices, the key features of which are routine screening at admission and isolation of patients carrying the infections.
Under the bill, the Department of Health and Senior Services shall require each general hospital, comprehensive rehabilitation hospital, and nursing home licensed pursuant to N.J.S.A.26:2H-1 et seq. to establish a written infections prevention and control policy which incorporates best practices in infection control identified by the commissioner, including the guidelines published by SHEA. In addition, these facilities shall report all incidents of MRSA and VRE to the department in a form and manner determined by the commissioner.
Within 18 months after the effective date of this act, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall report to the Governor and the Senate and General Assembly standing reference committees on health on the effect of this bill in reducing the incidence of MRSA and VRE in health care facilities.
This bill takes effect 90 days after enactment, but the commissioner may take such anticipatory action as is necessary for implementation of the bill.
