SECTION 1. Section 23-17-40 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17 entitled "Licensing of Health Care Facilities" is hereby amended to read as follows:

23-17-40. Hospital events reporting. -- (a) Reportable events as defined in subsection (b) shall be reported to the department of health division of facilities regulation on a telephone number maintained for that purpose. Hospitals shall report incidents as defined in subsection (b) within twenty-four (24) hours of when the accident occurred or if later, within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of information causing the hospital to believe that a reportable event has occurred.

(b) (1) Reportable events are defined as follows:

(i) Fires or internal disasters in the facility which disrupt the provisions of patient care services or cause harm to patients or personnel;

(ii) Poisoning involving patients of the facility;

(iii) Infection outbreaks as defined by the department in regulation;

(iv) Kidnapping and inpatient psychiatric elopements and elopements by minors;

(v) Strikes by personnel;

(vi) Disasters or other emergency situations external to the hospital environment which adversely affect facility operations; and

(vii) Unscheduled termination of any services vital to the continued safe operation of the facility or to the health and safety of its patients and personnel.

(2) Any hospital filing a report with the attorney general's office concerning abuse, neglect and mistreatment of patients as defined in chapter 17.8 of this title shall forward a copy of the report to the department of health. In addition, a copy of all hospital notifications and reports made in compliance with the federal Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990, 21 U.S.C. section 301 et seq., shall be forwarded to the department of health within the time specified in the federal law.

(c) Any reportable incident in a hospital that results in patient injury as defined in subsection (d) shall be reported to the department of health with seventy-two (72) hours or when the hospital has reasonable cause to believe that an incident as defined in subsection (d) has occurred. The department of health shall promulgate rules and regulations outlining the process whereby health care professionals with knowledge of an incident shall report it to the hospital. In its reports, no personal identifiers shall be included. The hospital shall require the appropriate committee within the hospital to carry out a peer review process to determine whether the incident was within the normal range of outcomes, given the patient's condition. The hospital shall notify the department of the outcome of the internal review, and if the findings determine that the incident was within the normal range of patient outcomes no further action is required. If the findings conclude that the incident was not within the normal range of patient outcomes, the hospital will provide to the department of health the following information:

(1) An explanation of the circumstances surrounding the incident;

(2) An updated assessment of the effect of the incident on the patient;

(3) A summary of current patient status including follow-up care provided and post-incident diagnosis; and

(4) A summary of all actions taken to correct identified problems to prevent recurrence of the incident and/or to improve overall patient care and to comply with other requirements of this section.

(d) Incidents to be reported are those causing or involving:

(1) Brain injury;

(2) Mental impairment;

(3) Paraplegia;

(4) Quadriplegia;

(5) Any type of paralysis;

(6) Loss of use of limb or organ;

(7) Hospital stay extended due to serious or unforeseen complications;

(8) Birth injury;

(9) Impairment of sight or hearing;

(10) Surgery on the wrong patient;

(11) Subjecting a patient to a procedure other than that ordered or intended by the patient's attending physician. ;

(12) Any other incident that is reported to their malpractice insurance carrier or self-insurance program. ;

(13) Suicide of a patient during treatment or within five (5) days of discharge from an inpatient or outpatient unit (if known);

(14) Blood transfusion error; and

(15) Any serious or unforeseen complication, that is not expected or probable, resulting in an extended hospital stay or death of the patient.

(e) This section does not replace other reporting required by this chapter.

(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from investigating any event or incident.

(g) All reports to the department under this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 23-17-15. In addition, all reports under this section, together with the peer review records and proceedings related to events and incidents so reported and the participants in the proceedings shall be deemed entitled to all the privileges and immunities for peer review records set forth in section 23-17-25.

(h) The department shall issue an annual report by March 31 each year providing aggregate summary information on the events and incidents reported by hospitals as required by this chapter. A copy of the report shall be forwarded to the governor, the speaker of the house, the senate president and members of the health care quality steering committee established pursuant to section 23-17.17-6.

SECTION 2. Section 23-17.17-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-17.17 entitled "Health Care Quality Program" is hereby amended to read as follows:

23-17.17-6. Health care quality steering committee. [Effective until January 7, 2003.] -- (a) The director shall establish and serve as chairperson of a health care quality steering committee of no more than nineteen (19) members to advise in the following matters:

(1) Determination of the comparable performance measures to be reported on;

(2) Assessment of factors contributing to the provision of quality health care; and patient safety;

(3) Selection of the patient satisfaction survey measures and instrument;

(4) Methods and format for data collection;

(5) Program expansion and quality improvement initiatives;

(6) Format for the public quality performance measurement report;

(7) Consideration of nursing-sensitive performance measures to be reported on;

(8) Consideration of the relationship between human resources and quality, beginning with measurement and reporting for nursing staff, and

(9) Other related issues as requested by the director.

(b) The members of the health care quality performance steering committee shall include one member of the house of representatives, to be appointed by the speaker; one member of the senate, to be appointed by the majority leader; the director or director's designee of the department of human services; the director or the director's designee of the department of mental health, retardation, and hospitals; the director or the director's designee of the department of elderly affairs; and thirteen (13) members to be appointed by the director of the department of health to include persons representing Rhode Island licensed hospitals and other licensed facilities/providers, the medical and nursing professions, the business community, organized labor, consumers, and health insurers and health plans and other parties committed to health care quality.

23-17.17-6. Health care quality steering committee. [Effective January 7, 2003.] -- (a) The director shall establish and serve as chairperson of a health care quality steering committee of no more than nineteen (19) members to advise in the following matters:

(1) Determination of the comparable performance measures to be reported on;

(2) Assessment of factors, including, but not limited to, factors related to incidents and events reported to the department pursuant to Rhode Island general laws section 23-17-40, contributing to the provision of quality health care; and patient safety;

(3) Selection of the patient satisfaction survey measures and instrument;

(4) Methods and format for data collection;

(5) Program expansion and quality improvement initiatives;

(6) Format for the public quality performance measurement report;

(7) Consideration of nursing-sensitive performance measures to be reported on;

(8) Consideration of the relationship between human resources and quality, beginning with measurement and reporting for nursing staff, and

(9) Other related issues as requested by the director.

(b) The members of the health care quality performance steering committee shall include one member of the house of representatives, to be appointed by the speaker; one member of the senate, to be appointed by the president of the senate; the director or director's designee of the department of human services; the director or the director's designee of the department of mental health, retardation, and hospitals; the director or the director's designee of the department of elderly affairs; and thirteen (13) members to be appointed by the director of the department of health to include persons representing Rhode Island licensed hospitals and other licensed facilities/providers, the medical and nursing professions, the business community, organized labor, consumers, and health insurers and health plans and other parties committed to health care quality.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.