Punish
or Fix America’s Healthcare Facilities
A nurse who is involved in patient safety commented
on Facebook that a local hospital is “closing
their OB/GYN services. They are a remote town, downeast just over the border.”
She went on to explain “This
closure puts pregnant women in danger. I hope the people downeast fight this
one tooth and nail.”
I felt the need to comment on
that post and ask: Isn’t this what people who lose loved ones from a medical
error want? If they were injured because of the care they received, don’t they
want to see regulatory agencies close the doors? Could it be that a wrong medication, an
infection, or a baby born with disabilities was the start of that facility
closing the doors to the thousands of patients they serve?
I get it. When my son died I
wanted the doctors fired, the hospitals closed and the investigation (if there
ever was one) made public. Now, many
years later, I want clinicians, hospitals, nursing homes and rehabs to do
better, not close down. I don’t want to see jobs lost and people die from no
available care.
The agencies that review
patients’ charts, investigate complaints and inspect facilities are not the
reason for the problems. The problems
come from the people who are overworked and making mistakes. Still, are they to blame? Isn’t it the system (run by people) really to
blame?
I know many people want the
oversight agencies that inspect, review and fine facilities to make their
records public. I could understand a government-run
agency such as our state Department of Health doing that. After all, it is government-run and I want to
know what my government is doing for me.
As for other agencies that may be involved in fixing the problem, why do
we need to know the details of the problems when — I hope — we just want them
fixed? If there are fewer infections at
one hospital, does that mean another, best-graded hospital has no infections? I can’t believe that the public thinks that
if a hospital was found to be spotless, a nurse can’t injure a patient with the
wrong medication. What about a nursing
home that shows no bedsores and reports of low infection rates; does that mean
there aren’t patient falls each year with broken bones?
Why is there such insistence that organizations
that inspect, survey or grade hospitals report their findings? Why aren’t hospitals and nursing homes
themselves required to report to the public directly? •Three days since our last injury from a fall! •Two
days since our last surgical site infection!
•Only three wrong site surgeries this year! •Just
two deaths from medication errors this year!
Imagine if the hospital, nursing home other
healthcare facilities started to share their data with those of us who pay for
their service? Who would really come out
on top?
##
Ilene Corina is the President of Pulse Center
for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy a community based patient safety
organization located in New York.
