The reporting of any death in a healthcare facility is required (not related to NQF), with the exception of a “death due to natural causes” as understood in a general meaning and for which it has been established that the cause of death is not due to any contributing factors by the healthcare facility.

The following sentinel events involve death. Please click on the links to view the reporting requirements:

1E. Intraoperative or immediately postoperative/postprocedure death in an ASA Class I patient

2A. Patient death or serious injury associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the healthcare setting

2B. Patient death or serious injury associated with the use or function of a device in patient care, in which the device is used or functions other than as intended

2C. Patient death or serious injury associated with intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a healthcare setting

3B. Patient death or serious injury associated with patient elopement (disappearance)

3C. Patient suicide, attempted suicide, or self-harm that results in serious injury, while being cared for in a healthcare setting

4A. Patient death or serious injury 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)

4B. Patient death or serious injury associated with unsafe administration of blood products

4C. Maternal death or serious injury associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy while being cared for in a healthcare setting

4D. Death or serious injury of a neonate associated with labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy

4E. Patient death or serious injury associated with a fall while being cared for in a healthcare setting

4H. Patient death or serious injury resulting from the irretrievable loss of an irreplaceable biological specimen

4I. Patient death or serious injury resulting from failure to follow up or communicate laboratory, pathology, or radiology test results

5A. Patient or staff death or serious injury associated with an electric shock in the course of a patient care process in a healthcare setting

5C. Patient or staff death or serious injury associated with a burn incurred from any source in the course of a patient care process in a healthcare setting

5D. Patient death or serious injury associated with the use of physical restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a healthcare setting

6A. Death or serious injury of a patient or staff associated with the introduction of a metallic object into the MRI area

7D. Death or serious injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault (i.e., battery) that occurs within or on the grounds of a healthcare setting

All providers of health care, health care facilities, medical examiners, coroners and funeral homes must report immediately to their local and state health department, each death that is caused by, associated with or related to COVID-19 infection consistent with the CDC criteria. This includes information on the immediate cause of death, such as a heart attack or pneumonia, as well as any underlying disease. This CDC Guidance for Certifying Death Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) recommended reporting deaths where the patient has tested positive or, in the absence of testing, “if the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty.”

Employers must notify NVOSHA of all workplace accidents involving an employee fatality or fatalities within 8 hours after learning of the accident. Employers must report to NVOSHA all inpatient hospitalizations of one or more employees, amputations of a part of an employee’s body or an employee’s loss of an eye within 24 hours after learning of the hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. Employers must also record on the OSHA 300 Log the recordable injuries and illnesses of all employees on your payroll, whether they are labor, executive, hourly, salary, part-time, seasonal, or migrant workers. You also must record the recordable injuries and illnesses that occur to employees who are not on your payroll if you supervise these employees on a day-to-day basis. If your business is organized as a sole proprietorship or partnership, the owner or partners are not considered employees for recordkeeping purposes. The OSHA 300-A Annual Summary must also be posted each year.

Hospitals must report deaths associated with the use of seclusion or restraint.

Physician or APRN last in attendance must sign medical certificates of death, including stillbirth within 48 hours. The funeral director or person acting as undertaker shall present the completed certificate of death to the local registrar within 72 hours after the occurrence or discovery of death.

Facilities are required to report when it receives information that reasonably suggests that a medical device has (or may have) caused or contributed to a serious injury or death of a patient or employee of the facility.

The FDA receives voluntary reports on other serious adverse event, product quality problem, product use/medication error, or therapeutic inequivalence/failure that facilities suspect is associated with the use of an FDA-regulated drug, biologic, dietary supplement or cosmetic.