Local Phone : 410-402-8016
Toll Free Phone : 877-402-8218
Fax: 410-402-8167
The Hospitals, HMOs, and Patient Safety Unit provides oversight for the regulation of acute care and specialty (i.e., psychiatric, chronic, special rehabilitation) hospitals, residential treatment centers, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and hospitals within correctional facilities.
Responsibilities of the unit include the investigation of complaints filed against these providers; the annual survey and revisit surveys of health maintenance organizations; hospitals within correctional facilities; federally mandated validation surveys and complaint investigations of hospitals and residential treatment centers; investigation of all deaths that occur in State operated residential treatment centers and psychiatric hospitals; review of all self reported incidents that occur at these providers; and all associated activity required for licensure including on-site inspection and review of documentation from the providers, other governmental agencies, and external accreditation organizations.
The Patient Safety Division receives mandated self-reports of serious adverse events that occur in Maryland hospitals. Hospitals submit root cause analyses of these events to the OHCQ for review to determine compliance with COMAR 10.07.06 Patient Safety Programs. The Division conducts reviews of hospital patient safety programs to determine compliance with these regulations. Information regarding trends, best practices, and lessons learned obtained from the review of these events are disseminated to hospitals via the Division’s Annual Report, as well as Clinical Alerts and/or Clinical Observations in an effort to improve patient safety.
