Earlier this year the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stopped publicly releasing mistakes made in hospitals, despite saying it would not do so. After public outcry CMS relented, stating it would again release the information by the end of 2014. Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm cannot overstate how important it is to have this information available to the public, both for patient safety and to keep hospitals and doctors accountable.
Among the information retracted related to eight types of hospital-acquired infections, which affect at least one of every 25 patients, and kill more than 75,000 people every year. Some of the most deadly infections spreading in hospital are:
• Clostridium difficile, or c.diff • Bloodstream infections, such as sepsis • Surgical site infections • Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
CMS also stopped reporting how often doctors leave foreign objects in patients during surgery, when patients are given the wrong blood type, and other egregious medical mistakes that should never occur. These rare events that should never happen in hospital are referred to as ‘never events’ and rare as they are, they are critically important for consumers to know about when choosing a hospital or physician.
Why is Hospital Transparency so Critical?
There has been much media coverage recently on the safety and price comparisons between hospitals – specifically, how significantly they can range. Hospital pricing is extraordinarily convoluted and the largest driver of medical care inflation. This isn’t news.The New York Times ran an 8-part series starting in June 2013 titled “Paying Till It Hurts: A Case Study in High Costs.” The series covers eight different types of patients, from pregnancy to E.R. visits, attempting to uncover why the U.S. spends more money on healthcare than any other country in the world by far.
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Nowhere is this more obvious and outlandish than in the pharmaceutical industry. Due to the never-ending aggression of the pharmaceutical lobby, the average price for a cholesterol drug like Lipitor in the U.S. is about $124. In nearly all other developed countries, the price of Lipitor averages around $6. Several studies conclude that, despite the large difference in pricing, Americans do not receive better medical care than patients in other developed countries.
That is another blog for another time. What this is meant to prove is why it is so incredibly important for patients to have access to medical data. In an opaque market with even more opaque pricing practices, patients need to research the hospitals they are considering for surgeries, births, and even vaccinations. This rings particularly true for elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, for which the average U.S. price is more than $40,000.
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In a system where patients do not see prices (and are often told to “not worry about the money,”) until after the service is provided, data on past pricing and quality is invaluable. Between doctors, hospitals, medical companies and insurance providers, very rarely is anyone looking out for the best value for the patient; in fact, all of these entities have incentives to drive up prices. This means that patients must look out for themselves, and the only way they can do that is if medical care data is publicly available.
“Never Events” Actually A Daily Occurrence
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Another so-called never event, leaving foreign objects in patients, actually occurs about a dozen times every day in the U.S. This can occur during any type of surgery, and most often involve the cotton sponges doctors use to soak up blood. The sponge may be small, but it can cause a host of serious health issues, from permanent loss of intestines to death. The average amount of a hospitalization caused by a lost sponge averages over $60,000.
One victim was recently interviewed by USA TODAY: Erica Parks underwent a cesarean section in 2010 and left the hospital with a queasy feeling in her stomach. One month later, she was swollen and her bowels shut down entirely. She was sent to the ER, where X-rays showed a large infected sponge left in her abdomen requiring a six-hour surgery to remove followed by three weeks in the hospital.
Making matters worse, there is no federal requirement for hospitals to report such mistakes, despite reports that foreign objects left in patients was in the most serious category of medical mistakes. This type of mistake is completely preventable, yet it continues to consistently occur every single day. While there are numerous technologies that exist to cut the likelihood of this type of mistake, few hospitals (less than 15%) actually employee them.
Hospitals argue that their resources are better used on reducing other mistakes, like hospital-acquired infections, which can cause widespread harm among patients – such as the outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease at the Pittsburgh VA, which killed six veterans and sickened more than 20 others. Most hospital outbreaks are blamed on staff failure to contain the contagion. Unsurprisingly, lower-rated hospitals are riskier for patients than better esteemed facilities. Like foreign objects, however, there is no national system for collecting and reporting information on hospital-acquired infections.
Our team of medical malpractice lawyers reminds patients that medical mistakes, when they deviate severely from the standard level of care, can be grounds for a lawsuit against the hospital or doctor. If you are unsure whether your situation merits a malpractice claim, contact our office as soon as possible for a free legal consultation. Our case reviews are always free, confidential, and available to injured patients nationwide.
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