[Mb-civic] Bad Practices Net Hospitals More Money - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

<>Bad Practices Net Hospitals More Money
High Quality Often Loses Out In the 40-Year-Old Program

By Gilbert M. Gaul
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 24, 2005; Page A01

First of three parts

As far back as 1999, federal and state regulators began to receive 
complaints that the heart surgery unit at Palm Beach Gardens Medical 
Center in Florida was a breeding ground for germs.

Dust and dirt covered some surgical equipment. Trash cans and soiled 
linens were stored in hallways. IV pumps were spattered with dried 
blood. One patient's wife said she saw a medical assistant tear surgical 
tape with his teeth.

State inspectors in 2002 found "massive post operative infections" in 
the heart unit, requiring patients to undergo more surgery and lengthy 
hospital stays.

In a four-year period, 106 heart patients at Palm Beach Gardens 
developed infections after surgery, according to lawsuits and government 
records. More than two dozen were readmitted with fevers, pneumonia and 
serious blood infections. The lawsuits included 16 patients who died.

How did Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, 
respond?

<>It paid Palm Beach Gardens more.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/23/AR2005072300382.html 

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