General Liability & Medical Malpractice: Early Adverse Event Reporting Guide

Timely reporting allows for the identification of patient and visitor safety incidents and provides insight into opportunities to improve. Early reporting permits timely investigations and preservation of evidence of unexpected occurrences which enables us to engage early on in meritorious claims and aggressively defend any events that lack merit.

What Should be Reported to LHA Trust Funds

General Liability Early Event Reporting Criteria:

• Any act of violence or crime by a visitor or other.
• Any visitor injury on hospital premises where the visitor or visitor’s family asserts that the facility is responsible.
• Any incident involving a non-patient that is reported to the facility with a delay of more than 12 hours from the time the event occurred.
• Any incident involving furniture or fixtures that resulted in an injury to a visitor or other non-patient.
• Injury sustained in an unauthorized area of the facility.
• Any other unexpected adverse condition or outcome that you feel could result in a claim.

Medical Malpractice Early Event Reporting Criteria:

• When an incident has occurred that is likely to become a claim.
• If you receive a verbal or written demand asserting liability or damages.
• Total or partial loss of a limb or loss of use of the limb.
• Sensory organ or reproductive organ impairment.
• Any injury to anatomy that is not undergoing treatment.
• Any inadvertent disability or disfigurement.
• Disability or disfigurement.
• Any assertion by a patient or a patient’s family that the patient has been medically injured.
• Misdiagnosis of the patient’s condition resulting in mortality or increased morbidity.
• Injury/Death to either the child or mother during delivery including dystocia resulting in fracture or other injuries.
• Any assertion by a patient or patient’s family that no consent for treatment (medical/surgical) was given.
• Any assertion or act of violence.
• Medication errors leading to injury, death, or higher level of care.
• Retained foreign body incidents.
• Injuries alleged from the use of medical devices or equipment.
• Wrong site, wrong patient, wrong procedure.
• Suicide or death of any patient within 72 hours of discharge.
• Elopements of patients under a Physician’s Emergency Certificate or similar 72-hour hold.
• Any incidents related to unexpected death, brain, or spinal damage.
• Any other unexpected adverse condition or outcome that you feel could result in a claim.

When and How to Report

Early Event Reports can be made by any of the following:

• If you know your assigned Claims Consultant or Risk Consultant at LHA Trust Funds, you may call them directly or email them to discuss the event.
• If you do not know your assigned Claims Consultant, you may contact our main office to discuss the event with a Claims and/or Risk Consultant at 800-542-4754 (option 4) or info@lhatrustfunds.com.
• If you prefer to be set up to directly report events via our secure portal site, please contact our offices for access and education.

Need More Resources?

Download the Early Event Reporting Guides for General Liability and Medical Malpractice to share within your facility.

About the Author

Jamie Lamb
Director of Claims Operations, LHA Trust Funds

Jamie Lamb began her career in claims in 1997. Her experience includes handling multi-line claims in the areas of general liability, medical malpractice, automobile liability, commercial and personal property, excess and umbrella policies, and professional liability. Her experience comes as a former Manager and Litigation Specialist for the American National family of companies. She has been highly involved in the education and training of both internal and external customers her entire career. Ms. Lamb attended both Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, and Loyola University in New Orleans.