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HF 254

A bill for an act relating to the reporting of serious reportable events, and providing penalties.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Brian Lohse

HF 254 requires health facilities to report serious reportable events within 15 working days, in a director-defined format, while protecting staff/patient identities.

Introduced, referred to Health and Human Services.
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Bill Summary · HF 254

Summary of HF 254 (Introduced Feb 6, 2025)

Overview

HF 254 relates to the reporting of serious reportable events in health care settings and provides penalties. The bill would require health care facilities to report certain incidents within a defined timeframe, establish a standardized reporting format (developed by the director with input from patient-safety experts), protect some identifying information, and set out the scope of events that must be reported.

  • Bill number: HF 254
  • Title: A bill for an act relating to the reporting of serious reportable events, and providing penalties
  • Status: Introduced and referred to Health and Human Services
  • Introduced: February 6, 2025
  • Prime sponsor: LOHSE

Key Provisions

Reporting Requirement and Timeline

  • Facilities must report a serious event no later than 15 working days after discovery of the event.
  • Reports must be filed in a format specified by the director of the appropriate health agency.
  • The report shall identify the facility but must not include identifying information for any involved health care professionals, facility employees, or patients.

Format and Standards

  • The director may consult with experts and organizations with patient-safety expertise when developing the report format.
  • The director may further define “serious reportable events” to align with industry standards.

Confidentiality

  • Reports identify the facility but exclude personal identifiers for professionals, staff, or patients, supporting confidentiality.

Serious Reportable Events (SREs)

HF 254 lists specific events that qualify as SREs under this section. Notable examples include:

  1. Surgical events, including:
    • Wrong body part surgery or invasive procedures inconsistent with the documented informed consent (with a caveat):
      • Excludes situations requiring prompt action or where urgency precludes obtaining informed consent.
    • Wrong patient surgery or invasive procedure.
    • Wrong surgery or invasive procedure inconsistent with the patient’s documented informed consent (with the same caveat about urgent cases).
    • Retention of a foreign object after surgery or an invasive procedure, excluding objects intentionally implanted as part of a planned intervention and objects present prior to surgery that are intentionally retained.
    • Death during or immediately after surgery or an invasive procedure of a normal, healthy patient with no underlying disturbances, where pathologic processes leading to the operation are absent.

Note: The text excerpt provides these categories and includes qualifiers for urgent situations where informed consent cannot be obtained.

Affected Parties and Scope

  • Facilities and health care providers are required to report SREs.
  • Patients and their safety are central to the reporting framework, though identifying information about patients and staff is excluded from the public-facing report.
  • The bill touches on confidentiality, inspections, licensing, and related health care governance elements, aligning with broader health care reporting and safety oversight.

Procedural and Timeline Considerations

  • The 15-working-day reporting deadline is central to compliance.
  • The director’s role includes developing/reporting formats and defining SREs in coordination with safety experts to ensure alignment with industry standards.
  • The bill is in the Health and Human Services committee stage, guiding potential amendments and further refinement of penalties (details not included in the introduced text).

Next Steps for Review

  • Read the full text to understand penalties and any enforcement mechanisms.
  • Watch for amendments clarifying reporting penalties, confidential handling of reports, and any exemptions or carve-outs.
  • Consider how the definition of SREs interacts with clinical urgency and informed consent requirements in practice.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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