MRSA legislation in Congress

Readers, on Monday, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA, 12th District) introduced a bill: HR 2937, the MRSA Infection Prevention and Patient Protection Act.

It requires:

• hospitals to screen all patients entering high-risk units for MRSA infection
• adoption of best practices including contact precautions among health care professionals to prevent MRSA’s spread within hospitals.
• patients testing positive for MRSA be informed of the result and given instructions on how to prevent the spread of their infection when discharged.
• hospitals to report the number of cases of hospital-acquired MRSA that occur within their facilities.

In other words, it seeks to enact nationally what advocates such as Jeanine Thomas, Carole Moss, Michael Bennett and others have done in individual states. (Find their organizations in the right-hand column.)

Speier's announcement is here and the text of the bill is here.