Hospital C.-difficile rates to go public soon
Successful rollout of public reporting a ministry priority
Thursday September 25, 2008 -- Natalie Miller
Tomorrow, hospitals in Ontario have a new obligation to report rates of hospital-acquired illness at their healthcare facilities.

Starting Sept. 26, hospitals are required to provide the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care with data relating to the prevalence of C. difficile, a contagious infection that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to colitis to death. The ministry will release this information on a website accessible to the public. Hospitals are expected to post this information as well on their own websites.

The intention behind the release of this information is to keep the public educated about rates of healthcare-acquired illness in Ontario.

C. difficile is the first hospital-acquired illness among the new reporting requirements. Others contagious diseases and corresponding reporting deadlines are upcoming.

Leading up to the new requirement, the ministry and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) have held several educational sessions to help hospitals learn more about C. difficile, understand the reporting requirements and grasp the logistics of data tracking.

"The successful implementation of public patient safety reporting (indicators) is the (ministry's) number-one policy development and communications priority for the next few months," says Tom Closson, president and CEO of the OHA.

"The OHA will continue to provide (information) about education and supports. The OHA recognizes that a number of hospitals will be challenged to meet the new reporting deadline of Sept. 26. that has been set out by the ministry."

In addition, he says, the OHA intends to support hospitals that have to invest in patient safety infrastructure to carry out the public reporting requirements through conveying their needs to the ministry.

The OHA is holding a conference, 'Infection Prevention & Control: A Closer Look at Health Care Acquired Infections', Oct. 6 and 7 at the Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel, 801 Dixon Rd., Toronto.

The first day of the event will explore infection prevention and control while the second day will focus on the reporting requirements.

Hospitals are now required to report to the ministry all data regarding C. difficile, including rates, patient days and the count of acquired cases associated with the particular hospital by the 15th of each month.

Ultimately, the ministry will publish each month the hospital-associated C. difficile rate for each hospital site and the number of new cases associated with the reporting facility for each hospital site.

For answers to frequently asked questions about C. difficile and the reporting requirements, visit this link.

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