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EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING THE DIVISION OF PATIENT SAFETY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

WHEREAS , nearly 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of preventable medical errors and these patient safety errors cost Americans as much as $50 billion per year;

WHEREAS , thousands of Illinoisans die each year as a result of medical errors, costing Illinois citizens more than $1.5 billion per year in increased patient insurance premiums, hospital costs, co-pays, physician insurance rates, and prescription drug costs;

WHEREAS , current law, such as the Illinois Adverse Health Care Events Reporting Law and the Hospital Report Card Act, require the Department of Public Health to track medical errors and to create hospital report cards to apprise the public of existing problems;

WHEREAS , Illinois has created the Electronic Health Records Taskforce which is currently developing an electronic health records system in the State;

WHEREAS , the Illinois Health Network provides information technology upgrades for rural health care facilities to enable hospitals to quickly transmit information such as radiology images on-line;

WHEREAS , Illinois strives to remain at the forefront of health care and patient safety while reducing health care costs to Illinois taxpayers;

THERFORE, I, Rod R. Blagojevich, hereby order the following:

• Creation of the Division of Patient Safety Within the Department of Public Health

There is hereby created a Division of Patient Safety (the “Division”) which shall be located within the Department of Public Health (the “Department”) that will consolidate the Department’s efforts to eliminate medical errors.

Powers and Duties

The Department shall work with existing advisory committees and additional persons, as necessary, to ensure that representatives of affected constituencies are informed of the work of the Division. The Division’s powers and duties shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

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    • To encourage all medical providers to utilize e-prescribing programs by 2011. E-prescribing allows a physician to legibly write and electronically send prescriptions to reduce the risk of medication errors.

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    • To evaluate the areas within Illinois in need of enhanced technology to support e-prescribing programs.

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    • To determine the types of technology needed to implement the e-prescribing program.

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    • To coordinate with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to draft and issue recommended medication practices such as prescribing, dispensing, and maintenance to all health care providers.

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    • To expand the Department’s nursing home database to include information such as staffing ratios, medication distribution, on-site services, and citations issued against each facility, enabling consumers to make well-informed decisions.

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    • To implement and expand the State’s efforts at health care provider information transparency, such as the Hospital Report Card, the Consumer Guide to Health, and similar efforts to ensure that health care consumers and purchasers may make informed choices regarding the quality and cost effectiveness of medical care.

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    • To implement the Illinois Adverse Health Care Events Reporting Law.

Savings Clause

Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to contravene any state or federal law.

Severability

If any provision of this Executive Order or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, this invalidity does not affect any other provision or application of this Executive Order which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. To achieve this purpose, the provisions of this Executive Order are declared to be severable.

Effective Date

This Executive Order shall become effective upon filing with the Secretary of State.

Issued by Governor: July 13, 2006
Filed with Secretary of State: July 13, 2006