CMS Finds More Quality Problems in Inspection of UCI Medical Center
Last week, UC-Irvine Medical Center submitted a report to CMS outlining actions that had been taken to correct problems federal investigators uncovered at the facility during an October inspection, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CMS investigators found problems in six of 23 areas that they reviewed, including:
- Patients rights;
- Quality assurance; and
- Infection control.
CMS officials outlined the problems in a letter dated Dec. 19, 2008. The agency gave the hospital 10 days to respond to the report or risk losing eligibility to participate in Medicare and Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. The deadline to respond to the report was extended to Jan. 16.
The October inspection was part of CMS' follow-up after it uncovered problems in UCI Medical Center's anesthesiology department last year.
David Bailey, vice chancellor for health affairs at UCI, said that all of the issues had been addressed when UCI Medical Center submitted its correction plan last week.
If CMS accepts the plan, it will schedule a follow-up inspection, according to Rufus Arther, a manager for CMS' certification branch (Zavis, Los Angeles Times, 1/21).
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