In 2003, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1614 (H.B. 1614), which requires hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), and mental hospitals to document certain types of medical errors and report the number of occurrences of these types of errors annually. The law also directed the Texas Department of Health (TDH) to establish Patient Safety Programs (PSPs) for these types of health care facilities. The PSPs are intended to promote public accountability through the detection of statewide trends in the occurrence of certain medical errors and encourage the targeted health care facilities to share best practices and safety measures that are effective in improving patient safety.
On March 26, 2004, TDH adopted amendments to its regulations to implement the requirements of H.B. 1614. The final regulations outline the reporting requirements and stipulate the required features and components of PSPs for hospitals (25 Tex. Admin. Code Chapter 133) and ASCs (25 Tex. Admin. Code Chapter 135). The new rules for hospitals and ASCs took effect on April 4, 2004; the revised regulations for mental hospitals have not yet been adopted.
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