Wash. Rev. Code § 43.70.056

Data Collection and Reporting of Health Care Associated Infections

Hospitals must routinely collect and submit data on health care associated infections to the national healthcare safety network of the U.S. CDC.  However, until the network releases a revised module that can interface successfully with Washington hospital computer systems, hospitals must submit this information on a monthly basis to the Washington state hospital association’s quality benchmarking system instead.  The information submitted must include the number of infections and the total number of surgeries performed for each type of surgery.

A health care associated infection means a localized or systemic condition that results from adverse reaction to the presence of an infectious agent or its toxins and that was not present or incubating at the time of admission to the hospital.  Specifically, hospitals must collect data on central line-associated bloodstream infections in intensive care units, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and surgical site infections for cardiac surgery, total hip and knee replacement surgery, and abdominal and vaginal hysterectomies.