Preventable Harm in Las Vegas Hospitals
The Las Vegas Sun identified 969 instances of preventable hospital-acquired harm — bedsores, falls, infections and other injuries — that could be deadly for patients. The information was gleaned from an analysis of Nevada's hospital inpatient records. While the events are relatively rare considering the total number of discharges, they are avoidable and should not happen at all.
Foreign Object Retained After Surgery |
Stage III and IV Pressure Ulcers* |
Falls and Trauma | Manifestations of Poor Glycemic Control |
Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection | Vascular Catheter- Associated Infection |
Surgical Site Infection* (Heart bypass) | Surgical Site Infection* (Bariatric) | Surgical Site Infection* (Orthopedic) | Deep Vein Thrombosis/ Pulmonary Embolism* |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(per 10,000) | (per 10,000) | (per 10,000) | (per 10,000) | (per 10,000) | (per 10,000) | (per 100) | (per 100) | (per 1,000) | (per 1,000) | ||
Centennial Hills | 0 | 1 (0.83) | 10 (5.95) | 0 | 2 (1.19) | 6 (3.57) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2.48) | 21 |
Desert Springs | 0 | 2 (1.30) | 10 (3.96) | 0 | 2 (0.79) | 27 (10.70) | 0 | 0 | 1 (2.88) | 2 (8.62) | 44 |
Mountain View | 0 | 6 (2.90) | 32 (9.47) | 3 (0.89) | 1 (0.30) | 36 (10.66) | 1 (0.38) | 0 | 0 | 2 (6.15) | 81 |
North Vista | 0 | 2 (1.78) | 19 (10.19) | 1 (0.54) | 1 (0.54) | 17 (9.12) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (3.91) | 41 |
Saint Rose Rose de Lima |
0 | 1 (0.84) | 12 (6.15) | 0 | 2 (1.03) | 36 (18.46) | 0 | 1 (0.22) | 0 | 1 (2.67) | 53 |
Saint Rose San Martin |
0 | 2 (1.81) | 12 (6.86) | 0 | 5 (2.86) | 35 (20.01) | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.05) | 9 (25.71) | 64 |
Saint Rose Sienna |
0 | 6 (2.40) | 23 (5.80) | 2 (0.50) | 8 (2.02) | 106 (26.74) | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.39) | 13 (7.30) | 159 |
Southern Hills | 2 (1.39) | 3 (3.33) | 18 (12.47) | 0 | 3 (2.08) | 5 (3.46) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 (11.07) | 40 |
Spring Valley | 0 | 2 (0.99) | 13 (4.04) | 0 | 1 (0.31) | 20 (6.22) | 0 | 0 | 3 (4.94) | 10 (6.24) | 49 |
Summerlin | 1 (0.23) | 0 | 19 (4.43) | 0 | 12 (2.80) | 15 (3.50) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (7.98) | 51 |
Sunrise | 7 (1.02) | 37 (8.85) | 52 (7.60) | 4 (0.58) | 5 (0.73) | 71 (10.38) | 0 | 0 | 1 (1.25) | 8 (16.03) | 185 |
UMC | 8 (1.56) | 13 (4.31) | 19 (3.71) | 2 (0.39) | 5 (0.98) | 66 (12.88) | 0 | 1 (1.64) | 5 (3.63) | 0 | 119 |
Valley | 3 (0.67) | 4 (1.45) | 9 (2.00) | 1 (0.22) | 10 (2.22) | 35 (7.76) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
Total | 21 | 79 | 248 | 13 | 57 | 475 | 15 (All surgical site infections) |
61 | 969 | ||
* Pressure ulcer data reflected is from the fourth quarter of 2008 and after. No specific codes identified pressure ulcers before then. Rates for surgical site infections are for patients with the specific procedure mentioned. Rates for deep vein thrombosis / pulmonary embolism are only for patients with a hip or knee replacement. SOURCE: Nevada Hospital Inpatient Data |
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