Frequently Asked Questions - Critical Incident Reporting

No. Adverse events are medical errors health care facilities could and should have avoided. The National Quality Forum (NQF) defines an adverse event as a preventable, serious and unambiguous occurrence or error at a health care facility that is universally or largely preventable and should never occur. The Department of Health uses the NQF 2011 Update to identify 29 reportable events and provides guidance on defining these events.

Adverse event reporting applies to hospitals, psychiatric hospitals (behavioral health hospitals), child birthing centers, Department of Corrections medical facilities, and ambulatory surgical facilities.

See the department’s Adverse Events Frequently Asked Questions webpage for more information.

• File a critical incident report online (This form is used to report critical incidents and file complaints).
• File a critical incident report by email (hsqacomplaintintake@doh.wa.gov)
• File a critical incident report by mail:
  • Washington State Department of Health
    Health Systems Quality Assurance Complaint Intake
    P.O. Box 47857
    Olympia, WA 98504-7857

When submitting your report by email, please do not:

• Send through online storage services (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
• Send using a secure email service that require login credentials.
• Send pictures of your filled out form. Pictures of report forms are often not formatted correctly and can be difficult to read. Please type your complaints as an email message. If you have other pictures, attach them to your email.
• Use uncommon file formats for saving your report. We can access files saved as a PDF or Microsoft Word document. We may not be able to open other file types.

For licensed BHAs, critical incident reports must be filed within 48 hours of the incident.

For licensed RTFs, reporting is required by the end of the next business day of the incident occurring.

Licensed BHAs must report to the department any serious or undesirable outcome that occurs in an agency. Such outcomes include, but are not limited to, the following, by way of example:

• Deaths, including death by suicide that occur on the campus of the facility
• Injuries that occur in the facility resulting in admission to a hospital as an inpatient
• Alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an individual receiving services
• Outbreak of a communicable disease within the facility

In addition to the items listed above, licensed RTFs must also report disruption of services through internal or external emergency or disaster.

If the incident is not one of the types mentioned above and you believe that the incident resulted (or will result) in a serious or undesirable outcome, please report it.

For example, you would want to report:

• An incident that the media is interested in and either, will or potentially, report on it.
• Any occurrence which may be seen as, or result in, an alteration or disruption to the orderly function of business, such as failing equipment.
• An incident related to inclement weather or natural disaster.

There are two types of death reporting for OTPs:

Death of an individual enrolled in an OTP that occurs on the campus of an OTP must be reported as a critical incident using the online department intake form.

Death of an individual enrolled in an OTP, that do not occur on campus must be reported using the online OTP death reporting form. These reports must be made within 48 hours upon learning of the death.

It’s important to include as much detail as possible.

• Your name, job title, and credential number, if applicable, and how to contact you (phone number and e-mail address). We may contact you if we need more information.
• Where the incident happened - the facility name, address, and license number, where in the facility the incident happened (room number, unit, service area, if applicable).
• The date of the incident and names of staff or other people involved in the incident or who saw or heard the incident.
• Details about the incident:
  • Be specific about what happened, what you saw or heard, the date and time or part of the day (morning, afternoon, evening, night).
  • Include the name and contact information of all participants who saw or heard the incident. This includes staff and patient names.
  • Relevant background information to provide context. Information about outcomes or follow-up if available.
  • If the incident resulted in a hospital admission, provide date of admission (and release or current status, if available).
  • What the facility is doing to correct the situation or plans on doing to correct the situation, if applicable.

The facility must have policies and procedures with a description of how the agency directs staff to report to the department critical incidents that occur involving an individual and actions taken because of the incident.

See the department’s Adverse Events webpage for information about how to report an adverse event. 

Health Professions Mandatory Reporting

Notifiable Conditions

Adverse Events: Applies to hospitals, psychiatric hospitals (behavioral health hospitals), child birthing centers, Department of Corrections medical facilities, and ambulatory surgical facilities.

You can file a complaint. The form used for complaints is the same form used for critical incident reports.

FAQ: Healthcare Agencies and Facilities Complaint Process

FAQ: Health Professions Complaint Process

Contact Health Systems Quality Assurance (HSQA) Customer Service Center by email or call 360-236-4700.