"Stop Sepsis Act"; requires hospitals to establish sepsis recognition and treatment protocols, train staff, and establish quality measures.*

The bill is now named the 'Stop Sepsis Act' (new Section 1), giving it a formal title for public reference.

Protocol basis changed from 'generally accepted standards of care' to 'best practices,' and the requirement that hospitals submit protocols to the Department of Health for review and approval within 120 days was entirely removed. Hospitals no longer need state approval before implementing their sepsis protocols.

Staff training requirement narrowed from all professional staff with direct and indirect patient care responsibilities (including laboratory and pharmacy) to 'clinical staff involved in the recognition, treatment, or prevention of sepsis.' A new provision requires the Department of Health to offer continuing education credits on sepsis, subject to availability of funds.

A new provision prohibits third-party payors, managed care organizations, and health benefits plans from substituting their own clinical judgment for treating providers on sepsis diagnosis and treatment. Specifically bans denial, downcoding, retrospective review, or payment reduction based on alternative clinical definitions, proprietary algorithms, payer-developed medical necessity policies, or retrospective validation reviews when the diagnosis follows ICD-10-CM guidelines.

New Section 3 amends existing law (C.26:2H-12.41) to require general hospitals to report quarterly to the Department of Health on infection control process quality indicators identified by CMS and infection rate data for major site categories, submitted through the National Healthcare Safety Network.

Patient categories covered by protocols expanded from 'adult and pediatric' to 'adult, geriatric, obstetric, and pediatric,' broadening the scope of patients for whom hospitals must develop distinct protocol components.

The exclusion for patients who elected palliative care was changed to hospice care only, narrowing the category of patients who can be excluded from sepsis protocols.

A new definition of 'hospital' was added, specifying it means a general or special hospital licensed under P.L.1971, c.136.

The requirement for hospitals to annually report data to the department for risk-adjusted mortality rate development and the provision subjecting hospitals to audit at the department's discretion were removed.

A new public report card must be developed by the Commissioner of Health, updated annually, and posted on the Department of Health website. It must include surgical and non-surgical inpatient case counts, average length of stay, risk-adjusted mortality rates, present-on-admission cases, and number of patients discharged to hospice.

Effective date changed from the first day of the fourth month after enactment to the first day of the twelfth month after adoption of rules and regulations, giving hospitals a significantly longer implementation window.