MO SB1009

Department of Health and Senior Services shall implement a two-phase health care quality program allowing consumers to compare and assess quality of health care services through an online report card.

Phase 1 (by December 31, 2011): Hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers must submit outcome data to federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical infection prevention measures; department shall make this data available on an interactive website.

Establishes a 17-member Health Care Quality Report Card Commission appointed by the governor to develop recommendations for data collection, standardization, and reporting; commission must submit initial report by July 1, 2012.

Phase 2 (by December 31, 2013): Department shall issue first annual health care quality report card on its website with risk-adjusted data including hospital accreditations, procedure volumes, quality measures by patient population, staffing levels, and patient safety initiatives.

Department may assess administrative penalties up to $1,000 per day (maximum $25,000 per violation) for hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers that fail to provide data access or violate reporting requirements.