By law, all health care facilities must report the following incidents to us within one business day. There are exceptions for Nursing Facilities (24-hour reporting with certain events).
- Unexplained deaths
- Brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Life-threatening complications of anesthesia
- Life-threatening transfusion errors/reactions
- Severe burns
- Missing persons
- Physical abuse
- Verbal abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Neglect
- Misappropriation of property
- Diverted drugs
- Malfunction/misuse of equipment
- Review and investigate the provider's report of their investigative findings
- Ensure appropriate preventive measures are taken for consumer safety
- Write a summary of the occurrence, not including names of the people involved, for public viewing
- Cite a deficiency if state regulations were violated.
- Review before conducting annual surveys (inspections) of facilities
- Review before reissuing a facility's license
- Possibly review as part of a complaint investigation
- Facilities with a higher number of reported occurrences may be doing a better job of reporting
- Also consider a facility's:
- Occurrence history
- Responses to certain types of events
- Size
- Complexity of health care needs of its patients