Letter to Gov. SB288

June 6, 2007

The Honorable Rick Perry
Governor, State of Texas
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711

Dear Governor Perry:

The Texas Legislature passed an important bill that establishes an exemplary infection rate reporting system for Texas. Senate Bill 288 by Sen. Jane Nelson, and sponsored by Rep. Dianne Delisi, is a model for the nation. It creates a process to measure the rates of specific health-care associated infections, and publicly report the information. While S.B. 288 represents good public policy, the budget does not include funding for the state to implement the data collection and analysis effort.

The Texas Department of State Health Services cannot implement an effective infection reporting program without additional resources. The fiscal note on the original House bill was $2.5 million for the biennium. To comply with the law, Texas hospitals will have to invest in technology and human resources; the state must have adequate resources to collect, analyze and publish the reported data so that useful information results. If the agency cannot do its part because of inadequate resources, then S.B. 288 becomes an unfunded mandate – which THA and the Healthcare Associated Infections Advisory Panel created by the 79th Legislature expressed concern over from the very beginning.

The experience with the Texas Health Care Information Collection demonstrates that without adequate resources, the results are disappointing at best. Infection data is clinical and more complex than financial charge data. Requiring hospitals to collect and submit data that sits in a file helps no one, and in fact drives up the cost of health care.

While consumers may be interested in infection rates, the real value of the data is its use by health care facilities and physicians to modify internal processes and reduce the risk of infection. Over time, patients will benefit as the occurrence of these specific – and preventable – infections is reduced.

Texas hospitals ask for your assistance to find state funding for this very important new reporting activity, and to prevent another unfunded mandate on hospitals.