How Do I Know If A Hospital Has Had an Adverse Event?

If you or a loved one is scheduled to undergo a procedure, you may want to research whether your chosen hospital or surgical facility has had an adverse event. An adverse event is a medical occurrence where a patient is injured during the course of treatment, either surgically or medically.

The state of Connecticut already has a law in place where employers are required to report adverse events when a physician or health care provider is involved.  Hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities are also required to report adverse events including surgery performed on the wrong patient or body part (14 instances in 2013), retention of foreign objects after surgery (25 instances); deaths associated with medication errors (6 instances); hospital acquired bed sores (277 instances); deaths associated with falls (90 instances). These events are reported by hospitals annually.  

A tool provided by the Connecticut Department of Public Health ranks 15 of Connecticut’s hospitals on their instances of adverse events in the areas of cardiac care, joint replacements, renal failure, blood disorders, pneumonia and sepsis. Adverse event reports are part of the State’s program to measure the clinical performance of health care facilities, and you can use this information when evaluating Connecticut hospitals.

If you or a loved one was injured in a Connecticut hospital or healthcare facility, with a permanent lasting injury, find out if you have a medical malpractice case.