Patient Safety Authority and Department of Health Draft of Updated Guidance on MCARE Act Reporting Requirements for Acute Healthcare Facilities

The Patient Safety Authority (Authority) and Department of Health (Department) provide updated draft guidance to acute healthcare facilities with reporting duties under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act to assist with determining whether specific occurrences meet the statutory definitions of serious events, incidents or infrastructure failures as set forth in section 302 of the MCARE Act. 

This guidance clarifies standards and expectations for MCARE Act reporting, so the Authority, the Department, and facility staff share a consistent understanding. Topics were selected based on frequently asked questions and data inconsistencies observed by the Authority and the Department. Please refer to the bulletin link included below to see detailed guidance.

Comments on the updated guidance will be accepted for 30 days following publication of this notice and may be submitted to ra-patientsafetyauthority@pa.gov.  When submitting comments, please include Bulletin Response in the subject line.

For more information, please review the November 29, 2025 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin