Illinois Hospital Association

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January 16, 2008

Hospital Report Card Act: Public Requests for Nurse Staffing Information

TO: Chief Executive Officers, Member Institutions
  (Please route to Chief Nurse Executive, In-House Counsel,
Human Resource Director)


The Illinois Hospital Association has learned that hospitals are receiving requests for nurse staffing information available under the Hospital Report Card Act (HRCA). This memo outlines the applicable legal provisions for your consideration. Copies of the Hospital Report Card Act (210 ILCS 86) and the rules (77 IL Adm Code 255) are attached.

The HRCA provides that all staffing records such as staffing schedules, rosters and methods to determine and adjust staffing levels, must be made available to the public for inspection upon request. The rules recognize that staffing methodology may be contained in various documents throughout the hospital, such as hospital policies and procedures, administrative regulations, staff plans, accreditation standards, collective bargaining agreements and commercially developed patient acuity tools and protocols. This information must be reviewed to make sure it contains no identifying information regarding patients, employees, nurses or other licensed professionals. The hospital should also consider checking with legal counsel to determine whether any such information is otherwise proprietary or confidential under other legal protections.

The HRCA also requires hospitals to retain these documents for at least 5 years. Given the volume and complexity of complying with a public request for such information, the law provides that public inspection shall take place at a central location or patient care unit of the hospital.

The law specifically states that individuals may inspect the requested materials that must be provided under the HRCA at the hospital. It does not give the public any rights to obtain or make copies of these materials for use outside of the hospital. Whether a hospital chooses to go beyond the requirements of the HRCA and make or allow copies of the provided nurse staffing information is strictly up to the hospital.

Although the law gives hospitals some flexibility in setting out the details of how they will handle public requests for nurse staffing information, it outlines the following compliance elements:

  1. Inform the public of its right to access nurse staffing formation.
  2. Inform the public of the hospital’s process for accessing such information.
  3. If the hospital decides that requests for such information be in writing to document the specifics of the request, it must develop a simple form for such requests.
  4. All records maintained in off-site storage may be provided at times set by the hospital, but must be available at least on Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..
  5. Records maintained in off-site storage shall, like all of the other nurse staffing documents and records, be made available at a central location on hospital grounds.
  6. The hospital has seven business days to comply with a request for such information.
  7. If the hospital cannot comply with the seven day deadline for satisfying a particular request for nurse staffing information, it must notify the individual making the request within the 7-day timeframe of the reason for the delay and a date for when the request can be satisfied.

Beyond these general provisions, it is up to hospitals to develop reasonable and appropriate processes for accommodating public requests for nurse staffing information.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please call Cathy Grossi at 630-276-5706.