Question: We received official communication that a former patient made a malpractice allegation against one of our health center providers. We followed our FTCA claims management policy regarding preserving all related documents. We also sent all required documents to the HHS Office of General Counsel. We just received a notice that the claim was dismissed. Do we still need to complete a root cause analysis and summary of implemented risk mitigation strategies for our next FTCA application since the claim was dismissed?
This is a common question that many health centers ask. It’s a common question because one would think that a root cause analysis or summary of implemented risk mitigation strategies wouldn’t be necessary since clearly there was no proven medical malpractice.
Chapter 21 of the Compliance Manual focuses on the FTCA program requirements. Element D under the Claims Management section indicates that if there is a FTCA claims history then the health center must demonstrate that it implemented steps to mitigate the risk of such claims in the future. If you look closely at the most recent 2026 FTCA Deeming Application guide, you’ll see that the information provided indicates that applicants must report a medical malpractice claim or allegation.
Medical malpractice claims can be closed for a variety of reasons once an allegation is made. With this being the case, applicants are still required to complete an internal investigation or a root cause analysis even when a claim is dismissed. Doing so allows an applicant to determine possible risk mitigation strategies that would help prevent a similar medical malpractice claim or allegation from being made against the health center in the future.
It’s important to remember that FTCA program applicants are required to report all medical malpractice claims or allegations that occurred within the past five years from the date of application.