California has passed two new laws designed to tighten up infection controls within the state's hospitals. While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) had vetoed similar rules four years ago, national attention to the threat of contagions like MRSA and C. diff may have changed his mind.
One of the new laws requires high-risk patients to be tested for MRSA within 24 hours of admission--a practice that is still unusual across the U.S.--strengthen their internal infection control rules and report infection rates to the state. Those rates will be disclosed publicly starting in 2011. The second law boosts the ability of the public health department to conduct surveillance of hospitals, while requiring clinical staff members at hospitals to be trained in controlling the spread of infections.
The new laws put California on par with the most aggressive states on the control. (To our knowledge, in fact, no other state requires MRSA testing within a 24-hour window. If we're wrong please write us and let us know?)
To learn more about these laws:
- read this Los Angeles Times piece
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