It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 23-17 of the General Laws entitled "Licensing of Health Care Facilities" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

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

(b) Reportable events are defined as follows:

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

(2) poisoning involving patients of the facility;

(3) infection outbreaks as defined by the department in regulation;

(4) kidnapping and inpatient psychiatric elopements and elopements by minors;

(5) strikes by personnel;

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

(7) 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.

Any hospital filing a report with the attorney general's office concerning abuse, neglect and mistreatment of patients as defined in chapter 23-17.8 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 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 within seventy-two (72) hours or when the hospital has reasonable cause to believe that such an incident 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 such 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 said normal range, 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 unforseen 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.

(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 of the general laws of the state of Rhode Island. In addition, all such reports, together with the peer review records and proceedings related to events and incidents so reported and the participants in such proceedings shall be deemed entitled to all the privileges and immunities for peer review records set forth in section 23-17-25. ADD}

SECTION 2. Section 23-17-15.1 of Chapter 23-17 entitled "Licensing of Health Care Facilities" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{DEL 23-17-15.1. Reports confidential. -- DEL} {ADD 23-17-15.1. Reports public. -- ADD} Copies of survey reports from the joint commission on accreditation of health care organizations and the American osteopathic association {ADD and any other reports from other accrediting organizations incorporated by reference in such reports, ADD} provided to the licensing agency by hospitals {DEL are confidential and are not DEL} {ADD shall be ADD} public records {DEL in accordance with section 38-2-2(d) (19), except those reports affecting hospitals operated by the state. However, where the director of the licensing agency determines that information in such report describes an imminent danger to the public health, the director may make public the specific information in the report which relates to the imminent danger. Beginning July 1, 1989, the director of the licensing agency, as the survey reports are completed, will periodically disclose the status of accreditation of the hospitals within the state. DEL} {ADD as defined in chapter 38-2 of the general laws. ADD}

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1994.