While some politicians and union supporters complain that job cuts at Jackson Health System have caused a drop in the quality of care, the system's own statistics show that quality has not suffered. Jackson Chief Executive Carlos Migoya says quality of care "continues to improve," even during three months when many employees were required to take furloughs. The latest quality report, prepared monthly for Jackson's board, shows that for three critical measurements of infection rates—involving catheters, ventilators and lines into the bloodstream—Jackson's performance in February was in the top quarter of hospitals nationwide. In all three categories, Jackson rated considerably better than it had in February 2011.
The chief of surgery at New York City's Lincoln Hospital "set a patient on fire" during an operation, causing severe burns on the man's neck and chest, The Post has learned. Dr. Jay Yelon was performing a tracheotomy on April 19 when his electronic scalpel, which gives off tiny sparks, came close to the patient’s oxygen supply, igniting a "minor explosion," hospital insiders say. Before the fire was extinguished, unconscious Enrique Ruiz suffered second-degree burns on his neck and chest. Sources at the South Bronx hospital charge a whitewash, saying Yelon failed to mention the patient's burns in a post-surgery report; he claimed the flames were extinguished with "no danger to the patient."
A study published Monday shows that patients often defer to their doctors for fear of being labeled "difficult." But patients who take that approach can hinder their ability to fully participate in decisions about their health, according to the study, which appears in the journal Health Affairs. In the study, 48 Bay Area patients recruited from Palo Alto medical practices said they feared that challenging their physicians or asking too many questions might result in lower-quality care or strain their relationship. But health experts say the rules are changing. The federal health law actually requires shared decision making between patients and doctors as an essential part of its programs.
State regulators determined that a Redding hospital owned by Prime Healthcare Services Inc. violated patient confidentiality by sharing a woman's medical files with journalists and sending an email about her treatment to 785 hospital workers. The California Department of Public Health found that Shasta Regional Medical Center had five deficiencies related to the unauthorized disclosure of medical information on a diabetes patient treated there in 2010. Prime Healthcare, based in Ontario, said it is appealing the state's findings. The hospital was seeking to respond to a story published by California Watch, a nonprofit news organization, that featured patient Darlene Courtois and allegations that the hospital was overbilling Medicare.
Even though hospitals in the United States excel at saving premature infants, the nation fares as poorly as developing countries in the percentage of mothers who give birth before their child is due, according to the first country-by-country comparison of preterm births. The U.S. has the sixth-highest rate of preterm births among 184 countries and the highest among industrialized nations, says the March of Dimes report, "Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth." Because the U.S. can afford expensive, advanced medical care for preemies, the country's infant death ranking is much lower than its rate of preterm births. The U.S. ranks 37th of 184 countries for infant mortality, the report says.
Many emergency care workers believe that a family's presence can distract the medical team in these critical moments. But a new study suggests that having loved ones present in the trauma ward when children are being treated has no detrimental effect on their care. In the study, medical teams performing invasive and potentially lifesaving procedures at Children's National Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center in Washington, D.C., that receives the most serious injury cases, did just as well whether family members were present or not.