Data on hospital-acquired conditions released this month by CMS revealed faults at several Madison, Wis., facilities, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report.
According to the report, at least 17 patients at Meriter Hospital in Madison received urinary tract infections from catheters during a 21-month period; 20 patients at the University of Wisconsin Hospital contracted UTIs. These numbers put Meriter at six times the national average for catheter-related UTI infections, while UW Hospital sits at more than four times the national average.
Meriter reported three foreign objects left in patients after surgery, though in all three cases, the reported objects were left purposefully by the surgical team to prevent harm to the patient, rather than left in error. UW Hospital reported a single foreign object left in a patient after surgery. St. Mary's Hospital in Madison reported 10 falls or other trauma events, putting the hospital just above the national average, while UW Hospital reported a rate 75 percent higher than the national average with 14 falls.
The reports, based on data from Medicare patients, spanned from Oct. 2008-June 2010. Hospital administrators in Madison say the scrutiny over quality outcomes has helped them focus more on preventing hospital complications, which include falls, bedsores, retained surgical items and bloodstream infections. However, they say billing codes can be misleading when they do not account for more complex patients found at larger hospitals. Geoff Priest, MD, Meriter's CMO, called the statistics "an approximation of the truth."
Read the Wisconsin State Journal report on Madison hospitals.
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According to the report, at least 17 patients at Meriter Hospital in Madison received urinary tract infections from catheters during a 21-month period; 20 patients at the University of Wisconsin Hospital contracted UTIs. These numbers put Meriter at six times the national average for catheter-related UTI infections, while UW Hospital sits at more than four times the national average.
Meriter reported three foreign objects left in patients after surgery, though in all three cases, the reported objects were left purposefully by the surgical team to prevent harm to the patient, rather than left in error. UW Hospital reported a single foreign object left in a patient after surgery. St. Mary's Hospital in Madison reported 10 falls or other trauma events, putting the hospital just above the national average, while UW Hospital reported a rate 75 percent higher than the national average with 14 falls.
The reports, based on data from Medicare patients, spanned from Oct. 2008-June 2010. Hospital administrators in Madison say the scrutiny over quality outcomes has helped them focus more on preventing hospital complications, which include falls, bedsores, retained surgical items and bloodstream infections. However, they say billing codes can be misleading when they do not account for more complex patients found at larger hospitals. Geoff Priest, MD, Meriter's CMO, called the statistics "an approximation of the truth."
Read the Wisconsin State Journal report on Madison hospitals.
Related Articles on Hospital Quality:
5 New Technologies That Ensure Proper Hand Hygiene
Dentist Used Soiled Gloves Violated Infection Policies at Ohio VA Medical Center
9 Steps to a Great Quality Improvement Study