Official Summary

6/18/2009--Introduced.MRSA Infection Prevention and Patient Protection Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate regulations relating to MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), including regulations that provide a list of best practices for pr

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Official Summary

6/18/2009--Introduced.MRSA Infection Prevention and Patient Protection Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate regulations relating to MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), including regulations that provide a list of best practices for preventing MRSA infections and such other antibiotic resistant pathogens as the Secretary determines appropriate. Requires each acute care hospital to screen each patient entering an intensive care unit or other high-risk hospital department. Directs the Secretary to:
(1) establish a process and a timetable for extending the screening requirements to patients admitted to all hospitals by January 1, 2014; and
(2) report to Congress on whether payment adjustments should be made under Medicare to assist certain hospitals in defraying the cost of screening for, and the subsequent treatment of, MRSA or other infections. Requires all hospitals to:
(1) comply with specified MRSA best practices, including contact precautions and patient notification; and
(2) report hospital-acquired MRSA and other infections that occur in the facility. Requires the Secretary to:
(1) establish systems for identifying infected transferred patients and for promptly informing any facility that has transferred an infected patient; and
(2) publish the names of providers who fail to take steps to reduce the incidence of MRSA infections. Permits a hospital to apply to the Secretary for a one-year increase in the amount of the capital-related costs payment made to the hospital under the prospective payment system to provide for the rapid implementation of MRSA screening programs and initiatives. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award a grant for a pilot program to develop a rapid, cost-effective method for testing for MRSA using a molecular testing method..

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