Riverside Hospital Receives Conditional JCAHO Accreditation, Allowed to Return to Medicare and Medi-Cal
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations yesterday returned "conditional accreditation" to Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside after the facility "demonstrated that it had complied with some of the commission standards" it had violated, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. JCAHO issued Parkview a "preliminary denial of accreditation" last month for "shortcomings" such as problems with medication use, assessment of patient needs, strategic planning and departmental leadership. In addition, federal officials on Tuesday conditionally restored Parkview's Medicare and Medi-Cal contracts, saying that the facility has "corrected the worst of the problems that were putting patient health and safety in imminent jeopardy," including problems involving nursing and pharmacy services, medical staffing and quality assurance (Beeman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/14). Parkview was dropped from Medicare and Medi-Cal on March 4, forcing the facility to close its emergency room and transfer many of its patients (Beeman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/13). In order to retain full JCAHO accreditation, commission spokesperson Mark Forstneger said Parkview has up to six months to make improvements in 15 areas, including the following:
- Operative procedures, including ensuring that patients receive appropriate surgeries and are "appropriately informed" before surgeries;
- Tracking the patient care process and its outcomes;
- Staffing, including having enough well-trained and competent staff members; and
- Leadership, including how the hospital fulfills its mission.
Even if the improvements are made, Parkview's record will continue to show a preliminary denial of JCAHO accreditation from Feb. 8 to March 12, according to commission spokesperson Charlene Hill. The hospital has until May 15 to fix the problems identified by Medicare and Medi-Cal inspectors (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/14).
But even with JCAHO accreditation and Medicare and Medi-Cal status restored, Parkview could "face a huge challenge to get back on its feet," the Press-Enterprise reports. Parkview CEO Norm Martin said that it might take up to a year for the facility to "repair its reputation among patients and vendors" and to "return to normal." Dr. Touraj Shafai, a pediatrician who sends patients to Parkview, said, "They need to get some of their personnel back and get the place going again. Once they get their staff back, we will admit there" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/13).
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