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Washington governor signs MRSA screening, testing bill into law
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Washington joined four other states in passing legislation concerning health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection when Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law bill ESHB 1123 this week.
The new law requires hospitals to take specific actions to prevent spread of the infection, track it, report it, and screen and test certain at-risk hospital inpatients for colonization and active infection.
Starting on Jan. 1, hospitals in Washington must collect data on health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from patients undergoing hip or knee replacement surgery and some other invasive procedures such as cardiac surgery, according to the bill's text. Specific coding requirements will ensure health officials and policymakers get needed data on the community- and state-wide health care-associated MRSA incidence.
Since 2007, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also passed MRSA screening laws, according to Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign.
While lawmakers elsewhere have introduced similar legislation to stop infections and many already mandate infection reporting, Washington requires that infected patients receive written and oral instructions to prevent spread of health care-associated MRSA after discharge.