An Act To Improve Hospital Reporting of MRSA Data
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1212
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: MALABY, ROSEN, BENNETT, DUNPHY, FOSSEL, FREDETTE, MOULTON, O'CONNOR, SANDERSON, SIROCKI
Amends: 22 MRSA §8761

Legislative Document 
No. 1212 
H.P. 903 
House of Representatives, March 22, 2011 
An Act To Improve Hospital Reporting of MRSA Data 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative MALABY of Hancock. 
Cosponsored by Senator ROSEN of Hancock and 
Representatives: BENNETT of Kennebunk, DUNPHY of Embden, FOSSEL of Alna, 
FREDETTE of Newport, MOULTON of York, O'CONNOR of Berwick, SANDERSON of 
Chelsea, SIROCKI of Scarborough. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §8761, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 346, §1, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
§8761.  Targeted surveillance for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 
All hospitals licensed under chapter 405 shall: 
1.  National Healthcare Safety Network.  No later than February 1, 2012, enroll and 
maintain enrollment in the National Healthcare Safety Network within the United States 
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion; 
2.  Monthly data report.  Submit to the National Healthcare Safety Network  
nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection data for all inpatients on 
a monthly basis in accordance with the protocols defined by the United States 
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 
3.  Access by Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  No later than 
February 1, 2012, authorize, for public health surveillance purposes only, the Maine 
Center for Disease Control and Prevention access to the facility-specific infection data 
pursuant to subsection 2 contained in the National Healthcare Safety Network database; 
and 
4.  Access by Maine Health Data Organization.  No later than February 1, 2012, 
authorize, for public reporting purposes only, Maine Health Data Organization access to 
the facility-specific infection data pursuant to subsection 2 contained in the National 
Healthcare Safety Network database. 
Sec. 2.  Rules.  The Maine Health Data Organization shall amend its rules regarding 
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus surveillance data to repeal Chapter 270: 
Uniform Reporting System for Quality Data Sets, Section 3(D) and shall adopt rules 
regarding public reporting of data reported to the United States Department of Health and 
Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding methicillin-
resistant Staphylococcus aureus pursuant to the requirements of the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 22, section 8761.  Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major 
substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A and must be 
provisionally adopted and submitted to the Legislature no later than January 15, 2012. 
SUMMARY 
This bill replaces the existing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, 
screening protocol that was adopted in 2009, which focuses on the presence of MRSA in 
patients as they are admitted to a hospital, and replaces it with a protocol that focuses on 
actual MRSA infections that occur in the patient population while at hospitals.