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Patient Safety in New Mexico

        In New Mexico, all licensed health care facilities, including outpatient facilities, adult day care centers, and facilities for the mentally challenged, are required to immediately report any abuse, neglect or misappropriation of property to the state’s adult protective services division.1  The state provides each facility with pre-made incident report forms for providers or consumers to make it easier to notify the department.  Additionally, all licensed health care facilities must establish and maintain an incident management system that emphasizes abuse prevention and staff involvement, and must train employees on how to respond to and report abuse.

        Additionally, New Mexico has a Resident Abuse and Neglect Act to deter and provide remedies for the abuse, neglect or exploitation of care facility residents.2  Under the law, any person that provides care to a patient or resident, and who has reasonable cause to believe that the individual has been abused, neglected or exploited, has a duty to report such abuse to the Department of Health.

        Finally, under the Hospital Acquired Infection Act, hospitals are required to participate in hospital acquired infection surveillance to identify and report hospital acquired infections that may occur, as well as to train and educate hospital personnel on the prevention of such infections.

 

 

Footnotes

  • 1. N.M. Admin. Code 7.1.13
  • 2. N.M.S.A. §30-47-9

 

Patient Safety in New Mexico

Subtopic Statute/Regulation Description
Ombudsman programs Confidentiality of Records-N.M. Stat. Ann. §24-1-20 All health information of a specific individual is confidential, even if the information is retained by government agency, a licensed facility or a...
Consumer assistance; consumer advisory boards; ombudsman office; reports to consumers; superintendent's orders to protect consumers – N.M. Stat. Ann. §59A-57-5 New Mexico has adopted a Patient Protection Act.  The Act provides that all individuals enrolled in a managed care plan have the right to be...
Patient Safety Confidentiality-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.12.18 The Department must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) when maintaining the confidentiality of all...
Confidentiality-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.13.12 All consumer information that is obtained due to an investigation into a health care facility for abuse or neglect is confidential. All...
Confidentiality-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.14.14 All reports of substantiated incidents of abuse or neglect may be disclosed publicly. If the report is unsubstantiated, it may not be disclosed...
Incident management system intake-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.12.9 Providers must report any complaints about abuse or neglect on the Department’s designated incident report form. The form is available on the...
Incident management system reporting requirements for community-based service providers-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.14.8 All community-based service providers, their employees, and volunteers have a duty to report all incidents of abuse or neglect to the Department of...
Incident management system reporting requirements for licensed health care facilities-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.13.8 All licensed health care facilities that receive a report of abuse or neglect must immediately report the incident to the Adult Protective Services...
Protocol for the Management for Infectious Forms of Tuberculosis – N.M. Stat. Ann. §24-1-15.1 When a physician gains knowledge that an individual is infected with an infectious form of tuberculosis, the physician must inform the Department of...
Registry established; provider inquiry required-N.M. Code R. § 7.1.12.8 The Department must maintain a registry that lists all employees of providers that engaged in a substantiated registry-referred incident of abuse or...
Patient safety data reporting Hospital Acquired Infection Surveillance Reports – N.M. Stat. Ann. §24-29-6 New Mexico’s Hospital Acquired Infection Act, also requires hospitals that participate in hospital acquired infection surveillance (not all...
Patient abuse/neglect records Hospital Facilities Policies – N.M. Code R. § 7.7.2.19 Policies   These requirements apply to all licensed public and private hospital facilities in New Mexico. Each hospital must have written...
Patient abuse/neglect reporting: Who has the duty to report Incident Reporting for Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded – N.M. Code R. §7.26.2.23 Reporting of incidents   All intermediate care facilities must report any serious incident or unusual occurrence that threatens the health,...
Outpatient Facilities Incident Reporting – N.M. Code R. §7.11.2.22 Reporting of Incidents   All licensed outpatient facilities must report any serious incident or unusual occurrence regarding the safety, health...
Resident Abuse and Neglect Act – N.M. Stat. Ann. §30-47-9 New Mexico has passed a “Resident Abuse and Neglect Act” to deter and provide remedies for the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of care...
Patient abuse/neglect reporting: For specific health care facilities Incident Reporting for Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded – N.M. Code R. §7.26.2.23 Reporting of incidents   All intermediate care facilities must report any serious incident or unusual occurrence that threatens the health,...
Outpatient Facilities Incident Reporting – N.M. Code R. §7.11.2.22 Reporting of Incidents   All licensed outpatient facilities must report any serious incident or unusual occurrence regarding the safety, health...
Resident Abuse and Neglect Act – N.M. Stat. Ann. §30-47-9 New Mexico has passed a “Resident Abuse and Neglect Act” to deter and provide remedies for the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of care...
Malpractice reporting: By peer review/medical board License may be refused, revoked or suspended; licensee may be fined, censured or reprimanded; procedure; practice after suspension or revocation; penalty; unprofessional and dishonorable conduct defined; fees and expenses. – N.M. Stat. Ann. § 61-6-15 These requirements apply to all persons licensed by the New Mexico medical board to practice in the state as a medical doctor, physician...