Children’s Hospital Fails Federal Surgical Inspection
Karen Bouffard
The Detroit News
3:44 p.m. ET March 27, 2017
Children’s Hospital of Michigan failed to pass a Jan. 31 inspection conducted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as part of a broad investigation into dirty surgical instruments at Detroit Medical Center hospitals.
(Photo: Detroit News file photo)
Children’s Hospital of Michigan failed to pass a Jan. 31 inspection conducted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as part of a broad investigation into dirty surgical instruments at Detroit Medical Center hospitals.
An inspections sweep of Detroit hospitals on Jan. 30 and 31 also found Karmanos Cancer Center not in compliance with federal certification requirements. Karmanos is not part of the DMC, but many of its patients are hospitalized at Harper University Hospital, which is part of the DMC system.
Children’s and Karmanos have been given until May 23 to show they are in compliance with federal standards.
Two other DMC hospitals, Harper University Hospital and Detroit Receiving Hospital, also were cited with violation during Jan. 31 inspections and were found to be “in substantial compliance” with federal certification requirements.
CMS, the federal regulatory agency for hospitals, has accepted plans of correction submitted by all four Detroit hospitals. Both hospitals have to pass unannounced inspections by May 23 or they could lose federal funding.
The Children’s Hospital inspection on Jan. 31 found dirty surgical tools, a shortage of instruments and staffing issues that resulted in “delays in surgical procedures, patients being exposed to anesthesia for longer than necessary, increased flash sterilization and the increased potential for infection and negative patient outcomes for all surgical patients serviced by the facility,” according to an inspection report.
At Karmanos, inspectors found problems with infection control procedures, including the handling of biohazards and hand hygiene. There also were problems with the required reporting of surgical site infection data from Karmanos’ patients hospitalized at Harper.
CMS spokeswoman Elizabeth Schinderle confirmed that Karmanos could lose its federal Medicare funding if it doesn’t pass an unannounced federal inspection by May 23.
Patricia Ellis, director of media relations for Karmanos, said the cancer center submitted a plan of corrective action that was accepted by CMS, and noted that the facility continues to be accredited by Joint Commission, an accrediting agency that CMS relies on to verify that hospitals meet quality standards.
“We did submit an action plan within the time period we were supposed to, and the corrective action was accepted,” Ellis said. “The Joint Commission has given us accreditation status and we’ve met all the conditions of participation.”
This is the second CMS investigation of DMC hospitals in six months. Federal and state agencies investigated in early September in response to a six-month Detroit News investigation that revealed the health system’s five Midtown hospitals had struggled for nearly a decade with dirty, broken and missing surgical instruments.
Inspectors found numerous violations during September inspections, but closed the case in December after the health system passed a surprise inspection. CMS reopened its investigation in January after The Detroit News reported that a filthy surgical tool interrupted an operation one day after the favorable inspection that ended its initial probe.
kbouffard@detroitnews.com
The Detroit News
3:44 p.m. ET March 27, 2017
Children’s Hospital of Michigan failed to pass a Jan. 31 inspection conducted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as part of a broad investigation into dirty surgical instruments at Detroit Medical Center hospitals.
(Photo: Detroit News file photo)
Children’s Hospital of Michigan failed to pass a Jan. 31 inspection conducted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as part of a broad investigation into dirty surgical instruments at Detroit Medical Center hospitals.
An inspections sweep of Detroit hospitals on Jan. 30 and 31 also found Karmanos Cancer Center not in compliance with federal certification requirements. Karmanos is not part of the DMC, but many of its patients are hospitalized at Harper University Hospital, which is part of the DMC system.
Children’s and Karmanos have been given until May 23 to show they are in compliance with federal standards.
Two other DMC hospitals, Harper University Hospital and Detroit Receiving Hospital, also were cited with violation during Jan. 31 inspections and were found to be “in substantial compliance” with federal certification requirements.
CMS, the federal regulatory agency for hospitals, has accepted plans of correction submitted by all four Detroit hospitals. Both hospitals have to pass unannounced inspections by May 23 or they could lose federal funding.
The Children’s Hospital inspection on Jan. 31 found dirty surgical tools, a shortage of instruments and staffing issues that resulted in “delays in surgical procedures, patients being exposed to anesthesia for longer than necessary, increased flash sterilization and the increased potential for infection and negative patient outcomes for all surgical patients serviced by the facility,” according to an inspection report.
At Karmanos, inspectors found problems with infection control procedures, including the handling of biohazards and hand hygiene. There also were problems with the required reporting of surgical site infection data from Karmanos’ patients hospitalized at Harper.
CMS spokeswoman Elizabeth Schinderle confirmed that Karmanos could lose its federal Medicare funding if it doesn’t pass an unannounced federal inspection by May 23.
Patricia Ellis, director of media relations for Karmanos, said the cancer center submitted a plan of corrective action that was accepted by CMS, and noted that the facility continues to be accredited by Joint Commission, an accrediting agency that CMS relies on to verify that hospitals meet quality standards.
“We did submit an action plan within the time period we were supposed to, and the corrective action was accepted,” Ellis said. “The Joint Commission has given us accreditation status and we’ve met all the conditions of participation.”
This is the second CMS investigation of DMC hospitals in six months. Federal and state agencies investigated in early September in response to a six-month Detroit News investigation that revealed the health system’s five Midtown hospitals had struggled for nearly a decade with dirty, broken and missing surgical instruments.
Inspectors found numerous violations during September inspections, but closed the case in December after the health system passed a surprise inspection. CMS reopened its investigation in January after The Detroit News reported that a filthy surgical tool interrupted an operation one day after the favorable inspection that ended its initial probe.
kbouffard@detroitnews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment