Materials managers should help hospital boards set freedom of information policies.
A hospital is called a District Hospital and gets about 1% of its net revenue from county taxes. Some of the members of the hospital's board are appointed by the county government. Does this bring the hospital under the Freedom of Information (FOI) laws? Can a supplier demand to see prices currently being paid for items? Does the FOI concept conflict with a purchasing group rule which states that prices are confidential and aren't to be disclosed by a member hospital? In this dialogue, Dr. Decker discusses the laws involved and answers these questions.
D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003254:Consumer Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006075:Governing Board; D008421:Materials Management, Hospital / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011050:Policy Making; D011996:Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States