On March 21, 2005, the Virginia General Assembly approved House Bill 1570 that amended the Code of Virginia (by adding § 32.1-35.1) to make information on nosocomial (i.e., healthcare-associated) infections reportable to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) beginning July 1, 2008. Hospitals must make the information available to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), and VDH in turn must provide the information to the public upon request. The Code further directed the Board of Health to develop regulations that specify the infections to be reported and the patient populations to be included.
After significant consultation with stakeholders to determine the kind of data that would be both reliable and useful, the Regulations for Disease Reporting and Control were amended to add a section (12VAC5-90-370) related to healthcare-associated infections. These regulations provide detail on the definitions and procedures to be used.
The applicable regulations specify that acute care hospitals shall collect and report data on central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) in adult intensive care units. Infection rate data are aggregated to ensure that no individual patient may be identified. The results of reporting must be released to the public by the department upon request.
This new information about HAIs gives consumers access to information about healthcare facilities in their area and across the state and is only one of the pieces of information that a consumer should use to choose a healthcare facility. Consumers should consider the experience of the facility staff, the advice of their physician, and all other factors that are unique to his or her situation, in addition to infection data.
Virginia Department of Health
Office of Epidemiology
109 Governor Street, Suite 516 East
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Contact us by Email
Phone: 804-864-8141 - Fax: 804-864-8139