State health officials and legislators have started crafting a plan that would force New Jersey’s hospitals to publicly report their infection rates. State health commissioner Fred M. Jacobs said the move would force hospitals to work harder to prevent the often fatal infections, but he stressed that the plan would only be put in place if the state could create a fair and understandable system. “We will make an honest effort to create something meaningful to consumers,” Jacobs told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Sunday’s editions. The effort comes shortly after an investigation by the newspaper found that the state collects only incremental data on hospital infections and that the information is kept private. State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, chairman of the state Senate’s Health Committee, said he plans to unveil legislation Thursday that will attempt to make hospitals report infection rates. “It will be hospital specific,” Vitale said.