iHealthBeat reports it will be at least a further six months before Colorado residents can access hospital-acquired infection rates and other data that could help them select a hospital for surgery.

A Colorado bill, sponsored by former state Rep. Bob McClusky (R) and state Sen. Maryanne Keller (D), requires hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and dialysis centers to report the infection rates annually. However, on Tuesday, a legislative deadline passed for hospitals and other treatment centers in the state to report rates of acquired infections.

Many hospitals in the state have had trouble navigating the federal hospital-acquired infection reporting system. In addition, the federal database cannot collect data for ambulatory surgery centers, so Colorado's 102 surgery centers are unable to comply with the mandate, the Post reports.

So far, 57 of the state's 79 hospitals are tracking infection rates for heart bypass surgery, and hip and knee replacements. Those facilities also are tracking bloodstream infections acquired in intensive care units.