California Hospital Infection Study Called Unreliable

Health officials in California will attempt to collect data in a different manner because a recent hospital infection study has serious limitations, The Associated Press reports.

California Hospital Infection Study Called Unreliable

The California Department of Public Health reportedly attempted to have hospitals report their rates of infection to the state for the first time this year, but the study was not as successful as originally hoped, according to Kevin Reilly, the department's chief deputy director of policy and programs.

The reporting of the infection cases was required by a bill called Niles Law, which was passed in 2008 after 15-year-old Niles Moss died of an infection he acquired at a hospital, according to the news source.

However, there reportedly weren't enough staff members focused on training and the collection of data due to a hiring freeze, which resulted in inconsistent responses from the various hospitals.

Reilly said that the "sketchy and incomplete" data from the hospitals does not allow for them to be properly compared.

"We know the next report next year will be much better," Reilly told the news provider.

California Hospital Infection Study Called Unreliable

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