RELEASE AND USE OF HOSPITAL ACCREDITATION SURVEYS.

SEC. 6019. RELEASE AND USE OF HOSPITAL ACCREDITATION SURVEYS. (a) Requiring All Institutions and JCAHO to Release Surveys to Secretary.—Section 1865(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395bb(a)(2)) is amended— (1) by striking “(2) such institution” and inserting “(2)(A) such institution”; (2) by striking “(if it is included within a survey described in section 1864(c))”; (3) by striking the comma at the end and inserting the following: “, together with any other information directly related to the survey as the Secretary may require (including corrective action plans),”; and (4) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 103 STAT. 2166 “(B) such Commission releases such a copy and any such information to the Secretary,”. (b) Authorizing Secretary to Release Certain Information.—Section 1865(a) of such Act is further amended by striking the period at the end of the last sentence and inserting the following: ”, except that the Secretary may disclose such a survey and information related to such a survey to the extent such survey and information relate to an enforcement action taken by the Secretary.”. (c) Permitting Secretary to Withdraw Hospital’s Status Based Upon Information Other Than Surveys.—Section 1865(b) of such Act is amended by striking “following a survey made pursuant to section 1864(c)”. (d) Effective date.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.