§ 23-17.21-4 - Definitions.
SECTION 23-17.21-4
§ 23-17.21-4 Definitions. – For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the followingmeanings:
(a) "Department" means the Rhode Island department of health.
(b) "Director" means the director of the Rhode Islanddepartment of health.
(c) "Health care facility" means any corporation, limitedliability company, facility, or institution licensed by this state to providehealth care or professional services, or an officer, employee or agent thereofacting in the course and scope of his or her employment.
(d) "Near misses" means circumstances in which a patientsafety event is narrowly averted.
(e) "Patient safety activities" means: (1) efforts to improvepatient safety and the quality of health care delivery; (2) the collection andanalysis of patient safety work product; (3) the development and disseminationof information with respect to improving patient safety, such asrecommendations, protocols, or information regarding best practices; (4) theutilization of patient safety work product for the purposes of encouraging aculture of safety and of providing feedback and assistance to effectivelyminimize patient risk; (5) the maintenance of procedures to preserveconfidentiality with respect to patient safety work product; and (6) theprovision of appropriate security measures with respect to patient safety workproduct.
(f) "Patient safety event" means those events as defined bythe national quality forum, institute of medicine, center for Medicare andMedicaid Services (CMS), and as further defined by the quality of care advisorycommittee, as established herein, and shall include near misses.
(g) "Patient safety organization (PSO)" means any public orprivate organization certified by the director, or component of any suchorganization, whose activity is to improve patient safety and the quality ofhealth care delivery for patients receiving care through the collection,aggregation, analysis, investigation, and/or processing of medical or healthcare related information submitted to it by reporting entities. A PSO shall notmean any agency or public body as defined in subsection 38-2-2(i).
(h) "Patient safety work product" means all reports, records,memoranda, analyses, statements, root cause analyses, or written or oralstatements, that: (1) a health care facility or provider prepares for thepurpose of disclosing a patient safety event, or is disclosed, to a patientsafety organization; (2) is received from a reporting entity, or is created oranalyzed by a patient safety organization; or (3) directly or indirectlycontains deliberations, analytical process, recommendations, conclusions, orother communications of a patient safety organization or between a patientsafety organization and health care providers or facilities.
(i) "Identifiable patient safety work product" means patientsafety work product that: (1) is presented in a form and manner that allows theidentification of any provider or reporting entity that is a subject of thework product, or any providers or reporting entities that participate inactivities that are a subject of the work product; (2) constitutes individuallyidentifiable health information as that term is defined in the Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations (45C.F.R. Parts 160-164); or (3) is presented in a form and manner that allows theidentification of an individual.
(j) "Nonidentifiable patient safety work product" meanspatient safety work product that is not identifiable patient safety workproduct as defined in subsection (h) herein.
(k) "Reporting entities" means all hospitals, nursingfacilities, and freestanding ambulatory surgical centers licensed under chapter23-17.