Skip to Content

Patient Safety in Connecticut

< Return to Patient Safety

Patient Safety

Connecticut protects the safety of patients by:

· Appointing Long-Term Care Ombudsman,1Regional Ombudsmen, 2 and Resident Advocates. 3

· Requiring persons to report suspected abuse of long-term care residents4  and elderly individuals5 and requiring the Department to of Social Services to maintain records of such reports.6

· Requiring medical malpractice insurers and health professionals to report medical malpractice awards to the Department of Public Health.7

· Requiring hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities to report adverse events to the Department of Public Health8 and enter into contracts with Patient Safety Organizations.9

· Establishing a reporting system for healthcare associated infections.10

· Investigating and maintaining a registry of allegations of abuse by nurse’s aides. 11

· Requiring pharmacies to maintain prescription error records and establish a procedure for alerting physicians and patients about such errors.12

 

Footnotes

  • 1. C.G.S.A. § 17-400; C.G.S.A. § 17-403.
  • 2. C.G.S.A. § 17-404.
  • 3. C.G.S.A. § 17-405.
  • 4. C.G.S.A. § 17b-407.
  • 5. C.G.S.A. § 17b-451.
  • 6. C.G.S.A. § 17b-413; C.G.S.A. § 17b-452.
  • 7. C.G.S.A. § 19a-17a.
  • 8. C.G.S.A. § 19a-127n.
  • 9. C.G.S.A. § 19a-127o; C.G.S.A. § 19a-127p.
  • 10. C.G.S.A. § 19a-490o.
  • 11. C.G.S.A. §§ 20-102bb- 20-102dd.
  • 12. C.G.S.A. § 20-635. 

 

Patient Safety in Connecticut

Subtopic Statute/Regulation Description
Patient Safety Duties of regional ombudsmen - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-405 The Regional Ombudsman must: Provide residents with services that protect their health and welfare. Ensure that residents have access to...
Duties of residents' advocates. Posting by nursing home facilities. Funding - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-406 The Regional Ombudsman must perform their duties with the assistance of “Residents’ Advocates.” Long-term care facilities must keep...
Duties of State Ombudsman - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-403 The State Ombudsman must: Investigate and resolve complaints by long-term care residents or persons applying for residency regarding actions that...
Investigation of report. Findings and recommendation. Registry. Confidentiality - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-452 The Commissioner must investigate elderly abuse reports by visiting the elderly person, consulting wither persons that are knowledgeable about the...
Investigative authority - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-404 The State Ombudsman has authority to investigate agency, official, or public employee actions or inaction in regards to their long-term care facility...
Nurse's aides: Commissioner to enter finding of improper conduct on the registry; petition for removal of finding - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-102cc The Department of Public Health will investigate and prosecute allegations that a nurse’s aide, working within a nursing or rest home, has...
Nurse's aides: Grounds for denial of registration - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-102dd The Commissioner of Public health may refuse to register a nurse’s aide that is the subject of a § 20-102cc abuse or neglect finding. The...
Nurse's aides: Registry - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-102bb The Department of Public Health must maintain nurse’s aides registry that contains (1) the names and addresses of nurse’s aides...
Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Regional Ombudsmen. Appointments. Inclusion in classified service. Definitions - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-400 Connecticut establishes the Office of the Long-term Care Ombudsmen as an independent office within the Department of Social Services. The...
Patient Safety Organizations - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-127o Organizations may apply to the Department of Public Health (“department”) to receive designation as a Patient Safety Organization (...
Powers of ombudsman and representatives. Access to records, facilities and residents. Penalty for wilful interference with representatives of office. Confidentiality. Assistance from outside persons or entities - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-410 The Long-Term Care Ombudsman and their representatives must have: “Access to long-term care facilities and residents.” “...
Prescriptions: Form and content. Electronic data intermediaries - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-614 Connecticut permits the oral, written, or electronic transmission of prescriptions to pharmacies. Upon receiving and oral or electronic prescription...
Report of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment or need for protective services. Penalty for failure to report. Immunity and protection from retaliation - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-451 Health care providers, social workers, police officers, clergy, and nursing home employees must report reasonable suspicions of elderly abuse or...
Report of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment. Penalty for failure to report. Confidentiality. Immunity and protection from retaliation. Notice to complainant. Registry - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-407 Health care providers, social workers, clergy, police officers, long-term care facility employees, sexual assault and battered women counselors, and...
Requirement for hospitals to contract with patient safety organization - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-127p Connecticut licensed hospitals must contract with Patient Safety Organizations to collect patient safety data and issue patient safety...
Review of medical malpractice awards and certain settlements - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-17a Following the settlement or adverse adjudication of a medical malpractice claim, the party paying the award on behalf of the health care professional...
State-wide uniform data system - Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-413 The Division of Elderly Services, within the Department of Social Services, must create a system for collecting and analyzing long-term care facility...
Click on the individual state law in the table above to see our summary of the individual law.


Welcome to Health Information & the Law

Please provide the following information and continue to the site.

by Dr. Radut.