02.03.32 Student Liability Insurance Incident Reporting

01. POLICY

01.00             This policy applies to all students participating in clinical education, practicum, fieldwork, internship, or other experiential learning activities required by an academic program where professional liability insurance coverage is provided by or through the university. 

01.01             Students participating in clinical education/internship requirements must report deviations from expected practice (adverse events and incidents) in which they are involved.

01.02             Adverse events are defined as an event in which care resulted in an unintended clinical outcome, an outcome not caused by underlying disease that prolonged the patient stay, caused permanent patient harm, required life-saving intervention, or contributed to death (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General).

01.03             Incidents are a work-related event in which an injury or illness occurred, or could have occurred, regardless of severity. This includes near misses and situations that had the potential to cause harm to a patient, student, employee, or third party. (Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Incident (Accident) Investigations: A Guide for Employers, 2015)

01.04             Examples of reportable events include medication errors, treatment errors, patient falls, breaches or confidentiality, injuries to the student during clinical activities, exposures to blood or bodily fluids, equipment-related incidents, and near-miss events that could have resulted in harm. 

02. PROCEDURE

02.01             Students will be informed prior to each clinical/internship enrollment that they must report adverse events and incidents as soon as practicable, no later than 24 hours after becoming aware of the event unless circumstances prevent timely reporting in which they are involved. Students must also comply with any incident reporting requirements established by the clinical or internship site. Adverse events and incidents will be reported on the Adverse Event Report Form (Attachment I) to:

                        a.         Their on-site clinical/internship supervisor, or preceptor

                        b.        Their University clinical/internship supervisor (faculty member, clinical coordinator, fieldwork coordinator, or other university-appointed individual responsible for overseeing the student's clinical pr internship experience). 

02.02             The University supervisor must notify the department/program chair or director and the Dean’s office as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 business day after they are informed of an adverse event or incident and furnish copies of the report from the student to the department administration and the dean's office.

02.03             If the student receives notice of a potential claim against them, the student shall within 3 business days from the receipt of such notice, furnish a copy of such notice to their University supervisor who will in turn furnish a copy to the department administration and the Dean’s office immediately, or within 1 business day of receiving notice.

02.04             In case of a potential claim against the University, the Dean’s office will notify the Texas State University System Office of General Counsel and the insurance carrier, if any, and furnish copies of all documents to both within 3 business days.

02.05             Copies of all reports and related correspondence will be maintained in accordance with university records retention requirements. 

02.06             NOTE: All documents related to the adverse event or incident, such as written statements, emails, photos, etc., which are prepared by the student and the on-site supervisors will be furnished to the Student Liability Insurance Carrier.  As documents prepared by students and on-site supervisors may be reviewed by third parties, such as insurance representatives, juries, claimant attorneys, etc., all individuals preparing reports should document only objective facts, observations, dates, times, and actions taken. Reports should not include assumptions, conclusions regarding fault or liability, or speculative comments.