Friday, August 18, 2017

Hershey Hospital Cited in Death of Six-Year Old

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Hershey hospital has been cited by Pennsylvania health officials for failing to report the unexpected death of a six-year-old boy and failure to follow expected standards of care in treating him.
According to a lengthy state inspection report, the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center only notified the Pennsylvania Health Department of the death after an anonymous informant had reported the Jan. 11 death months after it occurred. Under state law and regulations the death should have been reported within 24 hours of its occurrence.
In response to questions about the citation, the medical center issued a statement acknowledging the delay in reporting the incident and also the fact that there was a 10 hour gap in the recording of the patient's temperature.
"The facility failed to meet the emergency needs of a patient with acceptable standards of practice," the inspection report states.
The boy, who was brought to the hospital's emergency room on Jan. 10, was placed in a warming device due to a low temperature. He had a temperature of 107.6 degrees when he was found unresponsive the next day.
"There were no vitals,"the inspection report states, adding that hospital staffers acknowledged the warming device, called a Bair Hugger," had been on high all night.
He was pronounced dead at 5:39 p.m. on Jan. 11.
In addition to the failure to report the death, the hospital was cited for failing to adequately train employees and failing to follow the warming device manufacturer's guidelines calling for temperature checks every 10 to 20 minutes.
In its statement, the medical center said management did not become aware of the incident until notified by the state following the anonymous complaint to the state Patient Safety Authority.
"This situation raised serious issues, and our response has been equally serious" the hospital said in its statement.
Acknowledging that the state found a total of five violations, the medical center
termed the incident an "unacceptable failure" and said corrective action was initiated  as soon as it received notice of the anonymous complaint.
 The state sent inspectors to the hospital on April 12 and they completed their review the next day. Because the inspectors declared a state of "immediate jeopardy," the hospital was required to respond immediately with a corrective action plan. The "immediate jeopardy" was lifted on April 13.
In its statement the hospital said the boy was suffering from "ongoing, complex and life limiting health issues" and "presumed sepsis" when he was brought to the emergency room in January.
After he was found unresponsive the next day, he was taken to the the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit but died later in the day.
The hospital said its own investigation found "an agency nurse was overseeing the child's care during the 10-hour gap in temperature documentation, and no one involved in the child's care reported the incident to our Patient Safety Department."
In its inspection report, the state said that the nurse in question said she knew she took the patient's temperature but forgot to document it.
"I did not have the computer with me. I was probably busy with something else," she told the inspectors.
The state found that although the nurse had been hired a year earlier, there were no evaluations in her file and core competency for use of the warming device "was not completed."
According to the hospital statement, the facility now limits the use of the warming devices to operating rooms "where patients are continuously attended."
Other steps include training for staffers, including those hired through an agency, on the use of such devices and audits to ensure serious incidents are properly reported.
"As an organization that holds itself accountable for providing the highest quality care while protecting the safety of patients, employees and visitors, we recognize this situation was an unacceptable failure," the hospital said in its statement.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Philly Hospital Cited in 4 Patient Deaths


By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A major Philadelphia hospital has been cited by state health regulators for failure to fully investigate the cause of four unexpected patient deaths in 2016, refusing to provide official records and refusing to allow state surveyors to interview key staffers involved in the incidents.
In a report recently posted on its web page, the Pennsylvania Health Department cited the 701 bed  Albert Einstein Medical Center for failure to comply with state and federal requirements in serious cases "involving the clinical care of a patient that results in death or compromises patient safety."
The report was the result of a site visit to the Einstein facility described as an unannounced complaint investigation in early May.
Einstein officials filed a plan of correction in which they promised to institute new patient safety protocols and to use those new standards for all serious events beginning on July 1.
The hospital, however, repeated the assertion that some of the records sought by state inspectors at the time of the inspection are "peer review, protected, privileged documents, entitled to protection under federal and state law."
Einstein officials did not respond to a request for comment.
In the first case cited a deceased patient who had been admitted in late July of 2016 was found looking pale and unresponsive on Aug. 7, 2016. Records examined by the surveyors attributed the death to "excessive sedative use leading to hypo-ventilation and brain anoxia."
In a second case an unidentified patient underwent a colonoscopy on Sept. 23, 2016 and returned "with worsening abdominal pain."
The patient had elected to leave after the procedure "against medical advice," the report states.
The patient, who had apparently suffered a colon rupture, did not survive.
In another case a patient reported to the emergency room on June 21, 2016 with "agitation and psychiatric symptoms."
The patient asked for something to eat and was given a sandwich. The nurse returned to find the patient choking. The patient subsequently expired.
State inspectors asked for records showing required reviews were performed following the death. "None were provided," the inspection report states.
Another death occurred following an esophageal intubation in February. When state surveyors asked for documentation and the results of a "root cause analysis," they were told the documents were confidential and "protected."
In addition, the report states, that no completion dates were included for "action items" set to be implemented as a result of the incidents.
Cited in the report was a requirement by licensed health facilities to "track medical errors and adverse patient events, analyze their causes and implement preventive actions and mechanisms."
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com