Medical Errors Decline 3 Percent In 2015

Connecticut hospitals reported increases in patient deaths or serious injuries due to falls and medication errors in 2015 compared to 2014, but an overall drop in “adverse events,” according to a new state report. The report, by the Department of Public Health (DPH), shows that the total number of medical errors dipped by 3 percent – from 472 in 2014, to 456 in 2015. There were 90 instances when patients died or were seriously injured in falls, up from 78 in 2014. Seven falls that resulted in injury or death were reported at Yale New Haven Hospital, St. Vincent’s Medical Center and UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital.

More Than 90 Percent Of CT Hospitals Face Readmissions Penalties

All but one of Connecticut’s acute-care hospitals will lose Medicare reimbursement in 2015-16 as a penalty for high readmissions of discharged patients, new federal data show. The penalties against 28 hospitals mean Connecticut has one of the highest percentages nationally – more than 90 percent — of hospitals facing Medicare reductions. Only the Hebrew Home and Hospital of West Hartford escaped penalties; the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is exempted from the federal program. None of the state’s hospitals faces the maximum 3 percent reduction to Medicare reimbursement, but seven face reductions of more than 1 percent. They are: Milford Hospital (1.70 percent); Middlesex, in Middletown (1.38); Johnson Memorial, in Stafford Springs (1.27); Charlotte Hungerford, in Torrington (1.19); St.

Med Board Fines Anesthesiologist After Patient Death, Revokes Two Licenses

A Trumbull anesthesiologist who mistakenly administered a fatal dose of Lidocaine to a patient during surgery in May 2013 was reprimanded and fined $7,500 Tuesday by the state Medical Examining Board. Dr. Sandra Congdon made the mistake while the patient was undergoing surgery at the Surgery Center of Fairfield County in Trumbull, state Department of Public Health records show. When the patient’s blood pressure dropped during the procedure, Congdon inadvertently administered the anesthetic Lidocaine instead of Hespan, which is used to expand blood plasma when a patient goes into shock, records show. The patient showed no pulse and received cardiac life support before being transferred to the emergency department at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, DPH records show.

Most CT Hospitals Face Medicare Penalties For Quality Measures

More than two-thirds of Connecticut hospitals will face Medicare penalties for lagging clinical-care measures in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, with smaller hospitals including Johnson Memorial, Windham and New Milford losing the highest percentage of reimbursement. The penalties, under a federal program known as Value-Based Purchasing, average .26 percent nationally, with Connecticut’s hospitals losing an average of .23 percent, according to federal data compiled by Kaiser Health News. None of the state’s hospitals will lose the maximum possible penalty, 1.25 percent of funding, federal data shows. Johnson Memorial and Windham are the only two hospitals that will lose more than .5 percent of their Medicare payments – up slightly from the penalties they faced last year.