Question

Once an incident report is completed at the hospital, what should happen next?

The report should be shredded.

The report should be handed over to the affected patient.

The report should be submitted to state and federal agencies.

The report should be published to the hospital’s website.

Answer 1

The report should be submitted to the appropriate state and federal agencies (and to the facility’s risk/quality management as required).

Do not shred it, give it to the patient, or publish it on the website. Incident reports are internal quality/risk-management documents and—when required by law or regulation—are reported to external authorities (e.g., reportable diseases, sentinel events, abuse).