Reporting Procedures for Statutorily
Reportable Deaths - DEFINITIONS
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1. For the purpose of reporting a death to the Department under 1989
Wisconsin Act 336, the following definitions of "physical restraint" and
"psychotropic medication" are found in ss. 48.599, 50.035 (5), 50.04 (2t), and
51.64 (1), Stats.
a. "Physical restraint" includes all of the following:
-
A locked room.
-
A device or garment that interferes with an individual’s freedom of movement and
that the individual is unable to remove easily.
-
Restraint by a treatment facility staff member of a person admitted or committed to the
treatment facility by use of physical force.
b. "Psychotropic medication" means an antipsychotic, antidepressant, lithium
carbonate or a tranquilizer.
2.a. The term "client/patient," for the purpose of reporting a death, applies
to the deceased person when any of the following occurred prior to his or her death:
-
The person was formally admitted to the program or facility prior to his or her death.
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The person was court ordered to participate in the program or was protectively placed in
a facility.
-
The person had received services from the program/service provider.
b. The deceased person is no longer a "client/patient," for the purpose of
reporting his or her death, when any of the following occurred prior to his or her death:
-
The person was discharged from the program in accordance with an appropriate
individualized discharge plan.
-
The person had indicated his or her intent, in writing, to withdraw from the program.
-
The person was discharged due to a violation of a specific condition detailed in the
admission agreement. In these instances the provider must have attempted to arrange for an
alternate placement appropriate to the person’s immediate needs.
-
The person was discharged in accordance with statutory or regulatory requirements
dealing with involuntary discharge.
-
The person was discharged pursuant to a court order requiring an alternate placement; or
-
The person may have been considered an active case by the provider but did not receive
services from the provider during the past 60 days prior to his or her death.
Providers
are expected to have made reasonable attempts (including written attempts, telephone
contacts, and when appropriate, outreach efforts) to determine the client’s location
and his or her intent to withdraw from the program.
c. A "client/patient" is considered to not have been discharged from a
provider if:
- he or she is transferred from one provider to another (e.g., a nursing home to
a hospital) due to a sudden or temporary change in the client’s/patient’s
condition
- unless the client/patient is discharged in accordance with one of the items in
2.b. 1 to 6 above.
Additionally, if a client/patient dies after having been transferred to
a provider (due to a sudden or temporary change in the client’s/patient’s
condition), and there is cause to believe that the death was related to:
- the use of a
restraint or seclusion by that facility
- the use of one or more psychotropic medications
- the death is a suspected suicide
Then the provider to which the person was transferred
(other than a medical hospital) must report the death to the Department.
This provider,
and the client/patient’s other provider (from which the person was transferred), may
be included in the Department’s investigation of the death.
3. "Treatment facility" under ss. 51.01 (19), Stats., means any publicly or
privately operated facility or unit thereof providing treatment of:
- alcoholic
- drug dependent
- mentally ill
- developmentally disabled persons
including but not limited to:
- inpatient and outpatient treatment programs
- community support programs
- rehabilitation programs
For a list of programs/services that are required to report deaths under certain
circumstances to the Department under this reporting requirement, please refer to the
column labeled "Program Type" in "Reportable Death
Contact Table" on page 5 of form
F-62470 (PDF, 239 KB).
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Last Updated: August 13, 2009 |
