Incidents Submission Portal for Health Care Regulation Providers

Visit the TULIP Incidents Submission Portal to submit an incident.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission has introduced a new online incidents portal under Texas Unified Licensure Information Portal for the following licensed and/or certified Texas Health and Human Services providers to submit incidents online.

Provider’s user guide to submitting incidents online (PDF)

Depending on their reporting guidelines and HHS rules, providers may be required to report incidents including, but not limited to:

Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)

ASCs must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • Not later than the next business day: any fire occurrence causing injury to a person to HHSC.
  • Within two business days: Occurrences of surgical suite fires if flammable germicides, including alcohol-based products, are used for preoperative surgical skin preparation.
  • Within 10 business days of the incident:
    • The death of a patient while under the care of the ASC
    • The transfer of a patient to a hospital
    • Patient development of complications within 24 hours of discharge from the ASC resulting in admission to a hospital
    • A patient stay exceeding 23 hours.
    • Any theft of drugs and/or diversion of controlled drugs
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation
    • Occurrences of fire

Rules, Statutes, and Federal Regulations:

Birthing Centers

Birthing centers must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • Within 48 hours: If a mother or a newborn remains at the birthing center for medical reasons for more than 24 hours after birth, the birthing center must file a report with HHSC after the birth describing the circumstances and reasons for the extended stay.
  • Within five calendar days of their occurrence:
    • Death of a client, newborn, or death of a fetus during the course of labor occurring in the center
    • Death of a client or newborn occurring within 24 hours of discharge from the center or transfer to another health care facility

Rules and Statutes:

Chemical Dependency Treatment Facilities (CDTFs)

CDTFs must report the following to HHSC as soon as possible or within two business days:

  • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a client
  • Illegal, unprofessional, or unethical conduct that relates to the operation of the facility or its services

Rules and Statutes:

Community Mental Health Center (CMHCs)

CMHCs must report to HHSC all alleged violations involving mistreatment, neglect, or verbal, mental, sexual, and physical abuse, including injuries of unknown source, and misappropriation of client property by anyone, including those furnishing services on behalf of the CMHC within five working days of becoming aware of the violation.

Federal Regulations:

End Stage Renal Disease Facilities (ESRD)

ESRD facilities must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • Within one business day: Any fire incident causing injury to a person.
  • Within 10 working days:
    • Death of a dialysis patient, which occurs in the facility, at home, or in a hospital
    • Hospital transfers
    • Conversion of staff or a patient to hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) positive
    • Involuntary transfer or discharge of a patient; and
    • A fire in the facility

The facility must report all incidents of fire to the local fire authority and HHSC as soon as possible, but not later than 10 calendar days following the incident.

Rules:

Freestanding Emergency Medical Care (FEMC) Facilities

FEMC facilities must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • Immediately: All incidents of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
  • As soon as possible: Illegal, unethical or unprofessional conduct.
  • Within one business day: Any fire incident causing injury to a person.
  • Not later than the 10th business day after the incident:
    • Death of a patient while under the care of the facility
    • A patient stay exceeding 23 hours
    • 9-1-1 activation or the emergency transfer of a patient from the facility to a hospital by ambulance

FEMC facilities must report all incidents of fire to the local fire authority and HHSC as soon as possible, but not later than 10 calendar days following the incident.

FEMC facilities must report any abuse, theft, or diversion of controlled drugs in accordance with applicable federal and state laws and to the facility’s CEO.

Rules:

General and Special Hospitals

General and special hospitals must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • As soon as possible:
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation
    • Illegal, unprofessional, or unethical conduct
    • Abuse or neglect of a child
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or disabled person
    • Abuse or neglect of an individual with a mental illness
  • As soon as possible, but not later than 10 calendar days following the occurrence: all occurrences of fire.

Abuses and losses of controlled substances shall be reported, in accordance with applicable federal and state laws, to the individual responsible for the pharmaceutical services, and to the chief executive officer, as appropriate.

Rules, Statutes, and Federal Regulations:

Limited Services Rural Hospitals (LSRHs)

LSRHs must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • As soon as possible:
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation
    • Illegal, unprofessional, or unethical conduct
    • Abuse or neglect of a child
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or disabled person
    • Abuse or neglect of an individual with a mental illness
  • As soon as possible, but not later than 10 calendar days following the occurrence: All occurrences of fire to HHSC.

Abuses and losses of controlled substances shall be reported, in accordance with applicable federal and state laws, to the individual responsible for the pharmaceutical services, and to the chief executive officer, as appropriate.

Rules, Statutes, and Federal Regulations:

Narcotic Treatment Programs

Narcotic treatment programs must report the following to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • Any patient death within two weeks of the program’s knowledge of the death.
  • Any theft, break-in, or diversion of drug stocks from the clinic must be reported within 48 hours of discovery of the event.

Rules:

Private Psychiatric Hospitals and Crisis Stabilization Units (CSUs)

Private psychiatric hospitals and CSUs must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • As soon as possible:
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation
    • Illegal, unethical, or unprofessional conduct that relates to the operation of the facility or mental health or chemical dependency services provided in the facility
    • Abuse or neglect of a child
    • Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or disabled person
    • Abuse or neglect of an individual with a mental illness
  • As soon as possible, but not later than 10 calendar days following the occurrence: All occurrences of fire.

Abuses and losses of controlled substances shall be reported, in accordance with applicable federal and state laws, to the individual responsible for the pharmaceutical services, and to the chief executive officer, as appropriate.

Rules, Statutes, and Federal Regulations:

Psychiatric Hospital

Psychiatric Hospitals must report the incidents as soon as possible.

The following must be reported:

  1. Abuse and Neglect
  2. Illegal, unprofessional or unethical conduct that relates to the operation of the facility or its services

Rule/Statute:

Special Care Facilities

Special care facilities must report the following incidents to HHSC within the following timeframes:

  • As soon as possible:
  • As soon as possible, but not later than 10 calendar days following the occurrence: all occurrences of fire.
  • Within 24 hours of the incident: Any fire causing injury or death to a resident.

Rules:

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I report an incident?

You can report an incident online at any time, day or night via the Texas Unified Licensure Information Portal (TULIP).

Health Care Regulation (HCR) providers can submit the incidents by following the link at the top of the page. Providers are not required to login to submit online. There are several required fields which must be completed before you can submit your provider incident report. Links to continue to the next page or to go back to the previous page will be provided.

Narrative sections will have maximum character limits and the application will "timeout" after 30 minutes of inactivity if the application is open and the incident not successfully transmitted.

A confirmation number will be provided when the incident has been successfully transmitted. This number should be referenced on your Provider Investigation Report Form (applicable to long-term care providers only.)

Be sure to print a copy of the confirmation page for your records prior to submitting the online report.

NO additional contact from HHS intake staff will occur when you use the online application. HHS intake staff would only contact you if additional clarification or more details are needed regarding the incident to complete triage and prioritization of the intake.

Providers may also report by speaking to a live agent during business hours (Monday-Friday 7 am-7 pm.) Call 1-800-458-9858; option 5 for Health Care Regulation providers; option 6 for substance abuse providers.

Providers can submit self-reported incidents via email by completing the corresponding form and submit to Complaint & Incident Intake: Health Care Quality:

What information do I need to report an incident?

You need to provide the following information:

  • Your name and title.
  • Primary and secondary phone numbers, including area code, where you can be reached.
  • The name and address of the provider on whose behalf you are making the report. Include license number or facility ID, if applicable.
  • Whether or not the incident was reported to the police, include the police report number. Please include the name of the employee who made the report.
  • The name, age, date of birth and Social Security number of the person about whom you are making the report. In addition, we need to know:
    • If special supervision was required
    • The person's level of cognition
    • The person's pertinent medical history
    • If there was a history of similar or prior incidents
  • The date and time you first learned of the incident and a brief narrative summary of the reportable incident. Please include the names of any alleged perpetrators or witnesses.
  • The date, time and results of any assessment conducted, including findings of injury or adverse effects noted.
  • Type of treatment provided, and when and where treatment was provided.
  • The immediate action taken to protect other people and to prevent occurrences of similar incidents.
  • The name(s) of anyone else you notified about the incident.
  • Other questions, specific to provider type, may be asked.