Patient Right To Know Act

Patient Right to Know Act

• Providing standardized information on hospital staffing,
• Allowing consumers to compare patient satisfaction survey results,
• Granting access to complaints filed against hospitals,
• Giving real time information on current staffing levels, and
• Shining a light on the nursing shortage through better information on its impact.

• Research has shown that the number of patients a nurse is assigned matters. The more patients a nurse is assigned – the greater the risk for bad outcomes for those patients.
• The bill requires hospital report the daily staffing levels for RNs, LPNs, and CNAs by unit.
• All the information would be risk-adjusted and reported by unit to ensure we are comparing apples to apples.

• CMS, the federal agency that controls Medicare and Medicaid, has developed a national, standardized patient satisfaction survey called HCAHPS. The bill would make that information available through AHCA’s website.

• Consumers currently have better access to complaints filed against their dry cleaners than their health care provider.
• The bill would provide access to complaints filed against the hospital through the major regulatory agencies: OSHA, AHCA and JCAHO.

• Because of the seasonality of Florida, the averages on the website may not capture all the information consumers need.
• The bill would allow consumers to request the staffing schedule from their local hospital for a particular time frame. For instance if you were scheduling surgery or having a baby.

• The nursing shortage comes up as an issue, but regulators, researchers and the public do not have accurate, standardized information about how the shortage is impacting Florida.
• The bill would require hospitals to report their nurse vacancy rates, nurse turnover rates and hours completed by agency staff.