Federal Hospital Report Database Reveals Issues at California Facilities
Federal hospital inspection documents recently released by CMS include four dozen reports that detail 199 separate patient care violations at California facilities, Payers & Providers reports.
Details of Database
The reports were compiled in an online database by the Association of Health Care Journalists. Most of the reports on California hospitals were conducted by the California Department of Public Health during 2011 and 2012.
According to the database, another 115 reports detailing more than 780 violations at California facilities have not yet been released.
Details of Reports
Released reports detail various violations, such as:
- Improper monitoring of patients in intensive care units;
- Expired drugs used in hospital units;
- Contaminated drug compounding; and
- Patients restrained in hospital beds for several days in a row.
According to the database, at least five of the reports on California hospitals detail incidents that led directly or indirectly to patient deaths. Hospitals that were the subject of such reports are:
- Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland;
- Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield;
- Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae;
- Tehachapi Hospital; and
- UC-San Diego Medical Center.
In addition, two hospitals -- John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Indio and Stanford Hospital and Clinics -- received notifications of "immediate jeopardy" for medical errors or conditions that endangered the safety and lives of patients, according to the database.
Other California hospitals noted as having violations include:
- Bakersfield Heart Hospital;
- Los Angeles County-Harbor UCLA Medical Center;
- Riverside County Regional Medical Center; and
- Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose (Shinkman, Payers & Providers, 3/21).