A California lawmaker has introduced legislation to require stiffer inspections of hospitals and public access to hospital safety information following the deaths of two patients in local hospitals, according to a Contra Costa Times news article from Knight-Ridder.

Prospective patients and their families should have easy access to information about hospital safety records, state Sen. Elaine Alquist said Thursday, drawing a comparison to car buyers who look up safety ratings and other information about particular autos or trucks.

Alquist, a Democrat who serves on the Senate Health Committee, said she concluded that state oversight should be increased after learning that human errors caused four deaths in the space of a year at two Kaiser Permanente hospitals in San Jose and Santa Clara.

The cases were first reported by Knight Ridder last fall. Kaiser officials said they accepted responsibility for the deaths and have changed their procedures.

Health care experts and industry officials agree that medical errors are a serious problem nationwide. One study estimated they cause 98,000 deaths each year. Although most hospitals have launched programs to reduce errors, consumer advocates have also argued for more government oversight and public disclosure.

Alquist said her bill would provide both. As described by Alquist and her staff, it would require state authorities to inspect hospitals annually; currently the state inspects hospitals once every three years, or more often in response to complaints.

Although state law already requires hospitals to report negligence or medical errors "as soon as reasonably practical," the bill would mandate reporting within 48 hours. And it would require state inspectors to investigate each incident and report their findings within 45 days. Currently, there is no mandated time frame for investigations.

The investigators' findings would be posted on the Internet -- a provision that was welcomed Thursday by consumer advocates who criticized the current practice of making such reports available only in paper files, which are kept at regional offices of the state health department.

"That sounds wonderful," said Betsy Imholz, the West Coast director for Consumers Union, who said posting the reports online would make it easier for individuals and consumer groups to gather and analyze the information.

Hospital officials said they couldn't comment Thursday without seeing the language of the bill. A spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, a statewide industry group, said hospitals generally want to reduce the chances for error. But she said the industry would be wary of any provisions that add unnecessary administrative work or that might discourage hospital staff members from coming forward to disclose problems.

Alquist said she doesn't know what it would cost to increase inspections and require investigations to be completed more quickly. She said her intent is to pass that cost to hospitals through increased licensing fees.