WAC 246-320-146   Adverse health events and incident reporting system.  The purpose of this section is to outline each hospital's responsibilities for reporting and addressing adverse events. In this section, "serious disability" means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits the major life activities of a patient.

     Hospitals must:

     (1) Notify the department whenever any of the following adverse events as defined by the National Quality Forum, Serious Reportable Events in Health Care occur:

1. Surgery performed on the wrong body part;

2. Surgery performed on the wrong patient;

3. Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient;

4. Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or other procedure;

5. Intraoperative or immediately postoperative death in an ASA Class 1 patient;

6. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the health care facility;

7. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use or function of a device in patient care in which the device is used or functions other than as intended;

8. Patient death or serious disability associated with intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a health care facility;

9. Infant discharged to wrong person;

10. Patient death or serious disability associated with patient elopement (disappearance);

11. Patient suicide, or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability, while being cared for in a health care facility;

12. Patient death or serious disability associated with a medication error (e.g., errors involving the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong time, wrong rate, wrong preparation or wrong route of administration);

13. Patient death or serious disability associated with a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of ABO/HLA-incompatible blood or blood products;

14. Maternal death or serious disability associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy while being cared for in the health care facility;

15. Patient death or serious disability associated with hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a health care facility;

16. Death or serious disability (kernicterus) associated with failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinimia neonates;

17. Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a health care facility;

18. Patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy;

19. Patient death or serious disability associated with electric shock or electric cardioversion while being cared for in a health care facility;

20. Any incident in which a line designed for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances;

21. Patient death or serious disability associated with a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a health care facility;

22. Patient death or serious disability associated with a fall while being cared for in a health care facility;

23. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a health care facility;

24. Any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other licensed health care provider;

25. Abduction of a patient of any age;

26. Sexual assault on a patient within or on the grounds of a health care facility;

27. Death or significant injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault (i.e., battery) that occurs within or on the grounds of a health care facility; and

28. Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or egg;

     (2) Notify the department within forty-eight hours of confirmation by the hospital when any adverse event has occurred using established procedures. The notice must include:

     (a) The hospital's name;

     (b) The type of event identified in subsection (1) of this section;

     (c) The date the event was confirmed; and

     (d) Any additional contextual information the hospital chooses to provide;

     (3) Conduct a root cause analysis of each adverse event following the procedures and methods of:

     (a) The joint commission;

     (b) The department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Patient Safety; or

     (c) Another nationally recognized root cause analysis methodology found acceptable by the department;

     (4) As part of the root cause analysis, include the following information:

     (a) The number of patients, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and unlicensed assistive personnel present in the relevant patient care unit at the time the reported adverse event occurred;

     (b) The number of nursing personnel present at the time of the adverse event who have been supplied by temporary staffing agencies, including traveling nurses; and

     (c) The number of nursing personnel, if any, on the patient care unit working beyond their regularly scheduled number of hours or shifts at the time of the event and the number of consecutive hours worked by each such nursing personnel at the time of the adverse event;

     (5) Create and implement a corrective action plan for each adverse event consistent with the findings of the root cause analysis. Each corrective action plan must include:

     (a) How each finding will be addressed and corrected;

     (b) When each correction will be completed;

     (c) Who is responsible to make the corrections;

     (d) What action will be taken to prevent each finding from reoccurring; and

     (e) A monitoring schedule for assessing the effectiveness of the corrective action plan including who is responsible for the monitoring schedule;

     (6) If a hospital determines there is no need to create a corrective action plan for a particular adverse event, provide a written explanation of the reasons for not creating a corrective action plan;

     (7) Complete and submit a root cause analysis within forty-five days, after confirming an adverse health event has occurred, to the department.



[Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.41 RCW and RCW 43.70.040. 09-07-050, § 246-320-146, filed 3/11/09, effective 4/11/09.]