24th Legislature(2005-2006)
Bill Text 24th Legislature
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00 Enrolled SJR 19
01 Relating to creating the Task Force to Assess Public Reporting of Health Care Associated
02 Infections.
03 _______________
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
05 WHEREAS infections associated with health care are a major public health problem
06 in the United States, with an estimated 2,000,000 infections occurring each year; and
07 WHEREAS infections associated with health care cost 90,000 lives and
08 $4,500,000,000 in excess health care costs each year; and
09 WHEREAS, since 2002, six states have enacted legislation that requires hospitals to
10 report hospital-acquired infections to the public; and
11 WHEREAS advocates of mandatory reporting, including the Consumers Union,
12 believe that making information about infections associated with health care available to the
13 public will enable patients to make more informed choices about their health care and will
14 improve overall health care quality; and
15 WHEREAS the state does not currently expressly require reporting of infections
16 associated with health care and hospital-acquired infections, except as part of a risk
17 management program;
01 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Task Force to Assess
02 Public Reporting of Health Care Associated Infections is established in the Legislative
03 branch; the task force is composed of 10 members appointed jointly by the president of the
04 senate and the speaker of the house of representatives as follows:
05 (1) two state senators;
06 (2) two state representatives;
07 (3) the state chief of epidemiology;
08 (4) a consumer of health care who resides in rural Alaska;
09 (5) a consumer of health care who resides in urban Alaska;
10 (6) a representative of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium;
11 (7) a representative of the Alaska Chapter of the Association of Professionals
12 in Infection Control and Epidemiology; and
13 (8) a representative of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home
14 Association; and be it
15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the public members of the task force may not receive
16 compensation, per diem, or reimbursement for travel or other expenses incurred while serving
17 on the task force, except that the persons appointed as consumers of health care are entitled to
18 reimbursement for lodging and travel expenses incurred while serving on the task force; and
19 be it
20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall
21 (1) conduct a review of the experience of the public with reporting of
22 infections associated with health care and hospitals; and
23 (2) develop a white paper to be used for drafting legislation for reporting of
24 infections associated with health care and hospitals that addresses the unique health care
25 challenges in the state, including
26 (A) reporting mechanisms;
27 (B) data sources and possible outcome and process measures to be
28 reported;
29 (C) a timeline for implementation of recommendations; and
30 (D) the infrastructure needed for supporting a robust ongoing reporting
31 system for disseminating accurate data; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may meet during and between legislative
02 sessions; and be it
03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall deliver the white paper of its
04 findings to the legislature by January 31, 2007; and be it
05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is terminated on February 1, 2007.
06 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Karleen Jackson,
07 Commissioner, Department of Health and Social Services; and the Honorable Ted Stevens
08 and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.
09 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.
