CT SB00248

Hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities must report adverse events to the Department of Public Health within seven days of occurrence, with corrective action plans filed within thirty days; emergent reports must be submitted immediately.

Adverse events are defined as those on the National Quality Forum's List of Serious Reportable Events or on a commissioner-compiled list adopted as regulations; the commissioner must review the list at least annually.

Annual reports to the legislature must include adverse event data by facility, identified by category and presented with contextual information such as the ratio of adverse events to patient days or surgical encounters, patient population characteristics, and facility-submitted informational comments.

Hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities are prohibited from retaliating against employees, applicants, or health care providers who take action to enforce adverse event reporting provisions.

Complaint filers gain access rights to review investigation records and information about pending complaints filed with professional licensing boards, with certain confidential information withheld; mandatory mediation is required for medical malpractice civil actions before close of pleadings.