NRS439A.270. Internet website for information concerning hospitals and surgical centers for ambulatory patients: Establishment; information to be included on website; presentation of information on website; duties of Department.

      1.  The Department shall establish and maintain an Internet website that includes the information concerning the charges imposed and the quality of the services provided by the hospitals and surgical centers for ambulatory patients in this State as required by the programs established pursuant to NRS 439A.220 and 439A.240. The information must:

      (a) Include, for each hospital in this State, the:

             (1) Total number of patients discharged, the average length of stay and the average billed charges, reported for the diagnosis-related groups for inpatients and the 50 medical treatments for outpatients that the Department determines are most useful for consumers;

             (2) Total number of potentially preventable readmissions reported pursuant to NRS 439A.220, the rate of occurrence of potentially preventable readmissions, and the average length of stay and average billed charges of those potentially preventable readmissions, reported by the diagnosis-related group for inpatients for which the patient originally received treatment at a hospital; and

             (3) Name of each physician who performed a surgical procedure in the hospital and the total number of surgical procedures performed by each physician in the hospital, reported for the most frequent surgical procedures that the Department determines are most useful for consumers if the information is available;

      (b) Include, for each surgical center for ambulatory patients in this State, the:

             (1) Total number of patients discharged and the average billed charges, reported for 50 medical treatments for outpatients that the Department determines are most useful for consumers; and

             (2) Name of each physician who performed a surgical procedure in the surgical center for ambulatory patients and the total number of surgical procedures performed by each physician in the surgical center for ambulatory patients, reported for the most frequent surgical procedures that the Department determines are most useful for consumers;

      (c) Be presented in a manner that allows a person to view and compare the information for the hospitals by:

             (1) Geographic location of each hospital;

             (2) Type of medical diagnosis; and

             (3) Type of medical treatment;

      (d) Be presented in a manner that allows a person to view and compare the information for the surgical centers for ambulatory patients by:

             (1) Geographic location of each surgical center for ambulatory patients;

             (2) Type of medical diagnosis; and

             (3) Type of medical treatment;

      (e) Be presented in a manner that allows a person to view and compare the information separately for:

             (1) The inpatients and outpatients of each hospital; and

             (2) The outpatients of each surgical center for ambulatory patients;

      (f) Be readily accessible and understandable by a member of the general public;

      (g) Include the annual summary of reports of sentinel events prepared for each medical facility pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 1 of NRS 439.840;

      (h) Include the annual summary of reports of sentinel events prepared pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection 1 of NRS 439.840;

      (i) Include the reports of information prepared for each medical facility pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 4 of NRS 439.847;

      (j) Include a link to electronic copies of all reports, summaries, compilations and supplementary reports required by NRS 449.450 to 449.530, inclusive;

      (k) Include, for each hospital with 100 or more beds, a summary of financial information which is readily understandable by a member of the general public and which includes, without limitation, a summary of:

             (1) The expenses of the hospital which are attributable to providing community benefits and in-kind services as reported pursuant to NRS 449.490;

             (2) The capital improvement report submitted to the Department pursuant to NRS 449.490;

             (3) The net income of the hospital;

             (4) The net income of the consolidated corporation, if the hospital is owned by such a corporation and if that information is publicly available;

             (5) The operating margin of the hospital;

             (6) The ratio of the cost of providing care to patients covered by Medicare to the charges for such care;

             (7) The ratio of the total costs to charges of the hospital; and

             (8) The average daily occupancy of the hospital; and

      (l) Provide any other information relating to the charges imposed and the quality of the services provided by the hospitals and surgical centers for ambulatory patients in this State which the Department determines is:

             (1) Useful to consumers;

             (2) Nationally recognized; and

             (3) Reported in a standard and reliable manner.

      2.  The Department shall:

      (a) Publicize the availability of the Internet website;

      (b) Update the information contained on the Internet website at least quarterly;

      (c) Ensure that the information contained on the Internet website is accurate and reliable;

      (d) Ensure that the information reported by a hospital or surgical center for ambulatory patients for inpatients and outpatients which is contained on the Internet website is expressed as a total number and as a rate, and must be reported in a manner so as not to reveal the identity of a specific inpatient or outpatient of a hospital or surgical center for ambulatory patients;

      (e) Post a disclaimer on the Internet website indicating that the information contained on the website is provided to assist with the comparison of hospitals and is not a guarantee by the Department or its employees as to the charges imposed by the hospitals in this State or the quality of the services provided by the hospitals in this State, including, without limitation, an explanation that the actual amount charged to a person by a particular hospital may not be the same charge as posted on the website for that hospital;

      (f) Provide on the Internet website established pursuant to this section a link to the Internet website of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and

      (g) Upon request, make the information that is contained on the Internet website available in printed form.

      3.  As used in this section, “diagnosis-related group” means groupings of medical diagnostic categories used as a basis for hospital payment schedules by Medicare and other third-party health care plans.

      (Added to NRS by 2007, 2352; A 2009, 3069; 2011, 838, 965, 1803, 2127, 2661)