§ 2995-b. Hospital report cards. 1. Collection. The department shall
collect the following hospital data for dissemination to inform consumer
decisionmaking via a statewide health information system:

(a) Utilization and performance information to promote quality
improvement activities which was collected and evaluated for appropriate
dissemination pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of
subdivision one of the former section twenty-eight hundred seven-n of
this chapter, as added by section sixty of chapter six hundred
thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six;

(b) Statewide performance data comparing utilization and selected
performance measures to accepted norms and/or benchmarks developed by
recognized experts, which were developed pursuant to subparagraph (iii)
of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of the former section twenty-eight
hundred seven-n of this chapter, as added by section sixty of chapter
six hundred thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six; and

(c) Other hospital data, if any, collected for public dissemination by
the state task force on health care quality improvement pursuant to the
former section twenty-eight hundred four-b of this chapter, as added by
section sixty-a of chapter six hundred thirty-nine of the laws of
nineteen hundred ninety-six.

2. Preparation of data and public review. The department shall
thereafter prepare and risk-adjust as appropriate the collected hospital
data for dissemination pursuant to the former subparagraph (iii) of
paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred four-b
of this chapter, as added by section sixty-a of chapter six hundred
thirty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-six. The department
shall coordinate its efforts with programs of the national forum for
health care quality measurement and reporting (quality forum). The
department shall provide each hospital with a copy of the hospital data
to be disseminated concerning it. In a manner and time required by the
department, the hospital shall be provided with an opportunity to
correct factual inaccuracies, and to file a statement in a form
prescribed by the department concerning the data, which statement shall
be disseminated with such data.

3. Dissemination. The department shall thereafter disseminate the
collected hospital data, with corrections and statements, if any.

(a) Thereafter, the hospital data so disseminated shall be updated at
regular intervals to be determined by the department.

(b) All hospital data disseminated shall include the following
statement: "THE DATA COLLECTED BY THE DEPARTMENT IS ACCURATE TO THE BEST
OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEPARTMENT, BASED ON THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY
THE HOSPITAL WHICH IS THE SUBJECT OF THE DATA."

(c) If the department determines that any data to be disseminated
pursuant to this section is not useful for making quality
determinations, the department shall recommend to the legislature the
necessary statutory changes.