DELAWARE - HOSPITAL MANDATORY REPORTING GUIDE
Delaware hospitals are subject to state-mandated reporting requirements that govern when specified incidents, adverse events, and defined conditions must be reported to designated state authorities and external agencies. These obligations operate alongside federal standards and frequently influence regulatory oversight, enforcement actions, and litigation exposure when reporting is delayed, incomplete, or disputed.
This guide outlines Delaware’s hospital mandatory reporting framework, including reportable events, responsible agencies, required timelines, and escalation triggers. Mandatory reporting compliance often plays a meaningful role in discovery strategy, notice and foreseeability arguments, regulatory breach analysis, and credibility assessments in medical malpractice, patient safety, and wrongful death litigation.
These resources are used by plaintiff and defense counsel nationwide for early case assessment, regulatory analysis, and litigation strategy in medically complex matters.
Delaware — Hospital Mandatory Reporting Guide
Category 1 — Adverse Events
State-defined serious reportable events and facility incident reporting obligations are administered through DPH oversight.
Who Must Report: Licensed hospitals.
Deadline: Varies by event classification.
Destination: Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH).
Citation: 16 Del. C. Ch. 5; DPH regulations.
Attorney Notes: Adverse event submissions create an auditable trail; non-reporting may support institutional liability theories.
Category 2 — Child Abuse / Neglect
Trigger: Knowledge or suspicion of child abuse or neglect.
Who Must Report: Mandated reporters, including healthcare providers.
Deadline: Immediately.
Destination: Division of Family Services (DFS) hotline or law enforcement.
Citation: 16 Del. C. § 903.
Attorney Notes: Hotline documentation is frequently discoverable and compared against contemporaneous clinical notes.
Category 3 — Adult Abuse / Neglect / Exploitation
Trigger: Reasonable suspicion of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or incapacitated adult.
Who Must Report: Healthcare providers and mandated reporters.
Deadline: Promptly.
Destination: Adult Protective Services.
Citation: 31 Del. C. § 3910 et seq.
Attorney Notes: Reporting delays may expose facilities to enhanced scrutiny in elder-abuse litigation.
Category 4 — Weapon Injuries
Trigger: Treatment of injuries caused by firearms, knives, or other criminal acts.
Who Must Report: Treating physicians or hospitals.
Deadline: Immediately.
Destination: Local law enforcement agency.
Citation: 11 Del. C. § 901.
Attorney Notes: Establishes a public-safety duty that operates independently of HIPAA authorization.
Category 5 — Communicable Diseases
Trigger: Diagnosis, suspicion, or laboratory identification of a reportable disease.
Who Must Report: Healthcare providers and laboratories.
Deadline: Immediate or within disease-specific timeframes.
Destination: Delaware Division of Public Health.
Citation: 16 Del. C. Ch. 5.
Attorney Notes: Reporting timelines support compliance analysis and public-health causation arguments.
Category 6 — Deaths / Investigations
Trigger: Sudden, unexplained, or suspicious deaths.
Who Must Report: Physicians or hospitals.
Deadline: Promptly.
Destination: Medical examiner or law enforcement.
Citation: 16 Del. C. § 4706.
Attorney Notes: Reporting failures may materially affect wrongful-death and institutional-liability claims.
Hospital mandatory reporting statutes create legally enforceable duties that operate independently of clinical judgment and patient consent. When reportable events are missed, delayed, or inconsistently documented, those failures often become focal points in regulatory actions, medical malpractice claims, and wrongful-death litigation.
Not sure whether a hospital complied with mandatory reporting requirements?
Hospital reporting failures often surface only after timelines, records, and agency notifications are reconstructed. Our medical-legal team analyzes hospital documentation, regulatory duties, and reporting pathways to identify compliance gaps, escalation failures, and litigation leverage points.
Request a Hospital Reporting Compliance Review