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

A1950 1R

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1950

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblyman JOHN V. AZZARITI JR., M.D.

District 39 (Bergen)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Kane, Speight, Donlon, Haider, Assemblymen
DePhillips, Verrelli, Angelozzi, Assemblywoman Sweeney, Assemblymen Kearney,
Venezia, Karabinchak, Sampson, Assemblywomen Brennan, Morales and Assemblyman
Tully

SYNOPSIS

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

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Assembly Health Committee on May
11, 2026, with amendments.

��

An Act

concerning
sepsis protocols in hospitals
1
,
amending P.L.2007, c.196,
1

and supplementing chapter 2H of Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

����
1
1.�� (New
section)� This act shall be known and may be cited as the �Stop Sepsis Act.�
1
�

����
1
[
1.
]

2.
1
���� a.�
Each general or special hospital licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136
(C.26:2H-1 et seq.) shall adopt, implement,
1
and
1
periodically
update
1
[
, and submit
to the Department of Health
]
1

evidence-based protocols
1
based
on best practices
1

for the early recognition and treatment of patients with sepsis, severe sepsis,
and septic shock, which shall
1
include,
but not be limited to
1
:

���� (1)�
1
[
be based on
generally accepted standards of care;

���� (2)� include
]
1

components specific to the identification, care, and treatment of
1
[
both
]
1

adult
1
,
geriatric, obstetric,
1

and pediatric patients; and

����
1
[
(3)
]

(2)
1
clearly

1
[
identify
]

identifying
1
� where
and when the components differ with regard to adult
1
,
geriatric, obstetric,
1

and pediatric patients.

���� b.��� The sepsis protocols
established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall include:

���� (1)� a process for the
screening and early recognition of patients with sepsis, severe sepsis, and
septic shock;

���� (2)� a process that shall be
used to identify and document individuals appropriate for treatment in
accordance with sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock protocols, and which
shall include explicit criteria to determine those patients who should be
excluded from the protocols, such as patients who have certain clinical
conditions or have elected to undergo
1
[
palliative
]

hospice
1
care;

���� (3)� specific guidelines for
treatment appropriate to the patient�s condition, including treatment goals,
treatment methodologies, criteria for
1
[
invasive and
non-invasive
]

evidence-based
1

treatment
and management
1

, and timeframe goals;

���� (4)� a procedure for
identifying the source of infection and delivering early antibiotics, with
timeframe goals; and

���� (5)� such other requirements
as the Commissioner of Health may establish by regulation.

���� c.��� Each hospital shall
ensure that all
1
[
professional
]

clinical
1
staff
1
[
with direct
patient care responsibilities, and appropriate professional staff with indirect
patient care responsibilities including, but not limited to, laboratory and
pharmacy staff,
]

involved in the recognition, treatment, or prevention of sepsis
1
are
periodically trained to implement the sepsis protocols established pursuant to
this section. The hospital shall ensure updated staff training upon adoption of
substantive changes to the protocols.�
1
Subject
to the availability of funds, the department shall offer continuing education
credits and other educational opportunities related to sepsis, such as health
care provider briefings on the early recognition and treatment of patients with
sepsis.
1

���� d.���
1
[
Each hospital
shall submit proposed sepsis protocols to the department for review no later
than 120 days after the effective date of this act, and shall implement the
protocols upon receipt of approval of the protocols from the department.� A
hospital may revise and update its protocols as necessary and consistent with
evidence-based standards.� Protocols shall be resubmitted to the department for
review no more than once every two years, unless the department identifies
hospital-specific performance concerns.

���� e.
]
1
Each hospital shall
be responsible for the collection and use of quality measures related to the
recognition and treatment of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock for the
purpose of internal quality improvement.� The quality measures shall include,
but not be limited to, data sufficient to evaluate the hospital�s adherence
rate to its own sepsis protocols, including adherence to timeframes and
implementation of all protocol components for adult and pediatric patients.

����
1
[
f. Each
hospital shall annually report to the department such data as the department
may require for the purposes of developing risk-adjusted sepsis, severe sepsis,
and septic shock mortality rates, as well as any other data as may be required
by the department.� Each hospital shall be subject to audit at the department�s
discretion.
]
�

e. (1) The Commissioner of Health shall compile information necessary to
develop and expand the reporting of appropriately risk-adjusted sepsis-related
quality measures in a report card, which shall be updated annually and made
available on the Internet website of the Department of Health.� The report card
shall be designed to provide information about hospital quality measures
related to the recognition and treatment of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic
shock.

����
(2) In developing and
expanding the risk-adjusted sepsis-related measures included in the report
card, the commissioner shall consult with hospitals, clinical experts, and the
Quality Improvement Advisory Committee.� The department shall utilize data submitted
pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et al.).

����
(3) For each hospital, the
report card shall include:

����
(a) the number of, average
length of stay for, and risk-adjusted mortality rate for surgical inpatient
cases of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock;

����
(b) the number of, average
length of stay for, and risk-adjusted mortality rate for non-surgical inpatient
cases of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock;

����
(c) the number of present
on admission cases of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock; and

����
(d) the number of patients
with sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock discharged to hospice.

����
f.� For the purposes of the
early identification and treatment of sepsis, a third-party payor, managed care
organization, or health benefits plan with which the Division of Medical
Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services contracts
for the delivery of Medicaid services, and any health benefits plan, as defined
pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2003, c.193 (C.17B:27D-2), shall not substitute
its own clinical judgment for that of the treating licensed health care
provider with respect to the diagnosis and treatment of suspected sepsis,
sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock.� Diagnosis and treatment shall include,
but not be limited to, denial, downcoding, retrospective review, or payment
reduction based on the application of alternative clinical definitions,
proprietary algorithms, payer-developed medical necessity policies, or
retrospective clinical validation reviews when the diagnosis has been
documented and coded in accordance with ICD-10-CM official guidelines or any
successor guidelines.

����
g.��� As used in this
section, �hospital� means a general or special hospital licensed pursuant to
P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
1
�

����
1
3.�
Section 3 of P.L.2007, c.196 (C.26:2H-12.41) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� A general hospital
licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et al.) shall be required to
report quarterly to the Department of Health, in a form and manner prescribed
by the Commissioner of Health:

���� a.��� process quality
indicators of hospital infection control that have been identified by the
federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as selected by the
commissioner in consultation with the Quality Improvement Advisory Committee
within the department; and

���� b.��� beginning 30 days after
the adoption of regulations pursuant to this act, data on infection rates for
the major site categories that define health care facility-associated infection
locations, multiple infections, and device-related and non-device related
infections, identified by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, as selected by the commissioner in consultation with the Quality
Improvement Advisory Committee within the department
which is appropriately
risk adjusted provided that any infection rate data required under this
subsection shall be reported and publicly displayed only in a transparent,
clinically valid format that accounts for relevant patient, facility, and
case-mix factors.� Submission of the reports required pursuant to this section
shall be made through the National Healthcare Safety Network as the
internet-based surveillance system to which each general hospital shall report
federal Centers for Disease Control healthcare associated infection data, or
any successor system selected by the federal government.
1

(cf: P.L.2012, c.17, s.202)

����
1
[
2.
]

4.
1
� The
Commissioner of Health shall, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure
Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), promulgate such
rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this
act.

����
1
[
3.
]

5.
1
���� This
act shall take effect the first day of the
1
[
fourth
]

twelfth
1
month
next following the date of
1
[
enactment
]

the
adoption of rules and regulations pursuant to section 4 of P.L.��� , c.����
(C.�������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
1
,
except that the Commissioner of Health may take any anticipatory administrative
action in advance as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.