Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scathing Government Report Slams Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center Over Numerous, Sometimes Fatal, Errors
Six days after Thanksgiving last year, a 73-year-old woman showed up at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston. Her body was retaining too much fluid after a dialysis treatment, and she was in need of emergency medical care. What happened next could have killed her. Hospital staff put in a request to give the woman a blood transfusion, but the order was meant for another patient with a different blood type. Fortunately, the St. Luke’s laboratory caught the error, sparing the woman from harm. (Hixenbaugh and Ornstein, 2/26)
Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center staff made more than 100 mistakes in the labeling of blood during a four-month period reviewed by federal inspectors, according to a report released Tuesday. The inspection was prompted by the December death of a 73-year-old woman suffered repeated heart attacks after being given the wrong blood type. (Hixenbaugh, 2/26)
In other news on health care quality —
Surgeons are known for their busy schedules — so busy that they don't just book surgeries back to back. Sometimes they'll double-book, so one operation overlaps the next. A lead surgeon will perform the key elements, then move to the next room — leaving other, often junior, surgeons to finish up the first procedure. A large study published Tuesday in JAMA suggests that this practice of overlapping surgeries is safe for most patients, with those undergoing overlapping surgeries faring the same as those who are the sole object of their surgeon's attention. (Ellis, 2/26)
A large study examining patient outcomes for surgeons who run multiple operating rooms at the same time has found that the practice is likely safe for most patients but may put vulnerable patients at an increased risk of harm. The examination published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association comes amid a national discussion in the world of medicine about the practice of double-booked surgeons. Two years ago, The Seattle Times detailed as part of its “Quantity of Care” series how some brain and spine surgeons at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle were regularly running two operating rooms at the same time and patients had been unaware. (Baker, 2/26)
