KRS 216.2929: Data on health -care services charges and quality and outcome measures

to be publicly available on cabinet's website -- Reports required.

(1) (a) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall make available on its

website information o n charges for health -care services at least annually in

understandable language with sufficient explanation to allow consumers to

draw meaningful comparisons between every hospital and ambulatory facility,

differentiated by payor if relevant, and for other provider groups as relevant

data becomes available.

(b) Any charge information compiled and reported by the cabinet shall include

the median charge and other percentiles to describe the typical charges for all

of the patients treated by a provider and the total number of patients

represented by all charges, and shall be risk-adjusted.

(c) The report shall clearly identify the sources of data used in the report and

explain limitations of the data and why differences between provider charges

may be misleading. Every provider that is specifically identified in any report

shall be given thirty (30) days to verify the accuracy of its data prior to public

release and shall be afforded the opportunity to submit comments on its data

that shall be included on the we bsite and as part of any printed report of the

data.

(d) The cabinet shall only provide linkages to organizations that publicly report

comparative-charge data for Kentucky providers using data for all patients

treated regardless of payor source, which may be adjusted for outliers, is risk -

adjusted, and meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this subsection.

(2) (a) The cabinet shall make information available on its website at least annually

describing quality and outcome measures in understandable lang uage with

sufficient explanations to allow consumers to draw meaningful comparisons

between every hospital and ambulatory facility in the Commonwealth and

other provider groups as relevant data becomes available.

(b) 1. The cabinet shall utilize only natio nal quality indicators that have been

endorsed and adopted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and

Quality, the National Quality Forum, or the Centers for Medicare and

Medicaid Services; or

2. The cabinet shall provide linkages only to the following orga nizations

that publicly report quality and outcome measures on Kentucky

providers:

a. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

b. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality;

c. The Joint Commission; and

d. Other organizations that publicly report relevant outcome data for

Kentucky providers.

(c) The cabinet shall utilize or refer the general public to only those nationally

endorsed quality indicators that are based upon current scientific evidence or

relevant national professional consensus and have definitions and calculation

methods openly available to the general public at no charge.

(3) Any report the cabinet disseminates or refers the public to shall:

(a) Not include data for a provider whose caseload of patients is insufficient to

make the data a reliable indicator of the provider's performance;

(b) Meet the requirements of subsection (1)(c) of this section;

(c) Clearly identify the sources of data used in the report and explain the

analytical methods used in preparing the data included in the report; and

(d) Explain any limitations of the data and how the data should be used by

consumers.

(4) The cabinet shall report at least biennially, no later than October 1 of each odd -

numbered year, on the special h ealth needs of the minority population in the

Commonwealth as compared to the population in the Commonwealth as compared

to the population at large. The report shall contain an overview of the health status

of minority Kentuckians, shall identify the disea ses and conditions experienced at

disproportionate mortality and morbidity rates within the minority population, and

shall make recommendations to meet the identified health needs of the minority

population.

(5) Beginning December 1, 2024, and at least ann ually thereafter, the Cabinet for

Health and Family Services shall publish a report on its website for the most recent

five (5) years of available data on the number and types of delivery procedures for

pregnancy by hospital, including but not limited to the following procedures:

(a) Augmentation of labor;

(b) Cesarean section;

(c) Episiotomy;

(d) Induction of labor;

(e) Primary cesarean section;

(f) Nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) cesarean section;

(g) Use of forceps;

(h) Use of vacuum;

(i) Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC); and

(j) Vaginal delivery.

The cabinet shall use health data collected pursuant to KRS 216.2920 to 216.2929

to obtain the required information, and may use additional sources including data

derived from birth certificates if the required information is not available from data

collected pursuant to KRS 216.2920 to 216.2929.

(6) The reports required under subsections (4) and (5) of this section shall be submitted

to the Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Int erim Joint

Committees on Appropriations and Revenue, Families and Children, and Health

Services, and to the Governor.