Geisinger Patient Dies After Fall at Clinic

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A major hospital failed to perform a physician prescribed test and sent the patient home. Three days later that patient was dead. A cause of death was not disclosed.
A state Health Department report on the May 2020 incident at the 550-bed Geisinger Medical Center states that unnamed patient first went to a Geisinger outpatient facility but fell backwards with the head striking a stool. The fall occurred while the patient was attempting to get on an examination table.
A physician at the outpatient center prescribed a CT (computed tomography)scan and referred the patient to the Geisinger Medical Center, the report states.
The patient went by private car to the Danville-based hospital but the CT scan order was never transmitted to the hospital, health department surveyors reported.
The facility "failed to facilitate a safe patient hand off," the report states, adding that "there was no provider to provider communication report."
According to the surveyors the patient complained of back and shoulder pain after arriving at the Geisinger Medical Center emergency department.
"There was no documentation the outpatient provider notified the Emergency Department," the report continued, adding that the patient was then discharged to home.
The facility "failed to ensure a patient transferred from the hospital's outpatient clinic to the emergency department for additional services recommended by the outpatient provider,"according to the report.
According to the state report a second more recent case with a communications lapse was discovered during the May visit to the hospital.
In that April 1 case a patient with high blood pressure and chest pains was referred to the main hospital by the clinic but the clinic did not inform the hospital or Geisinger Placement Services, which coordinates care between Geisinger facilities.
The hospital filed a plan of correction in which it said staff were being re-educated on the requirement that referrals be reported to the referred party and to Geisinger Placement Services.
Geisinger officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com