Doctors Hospital – Coral Gables Review

Updated April 2021

Doctors Hospital is located in Coral Gables and was established in 1949. It is part of Baptist HealthCare and provides general and specialized services, including orthopedics, cardiac care, general surgery, and robotic and minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery.

Doctors Hospital is home to the Miami Heat Sports Medicine Center. The hospital has recently added a new state-of-the-art intensive care unit and has been honored with the Magnet Hospital for Nursing Excellence award.

U.S. News

Overview Of Doctors Hospital

Regional rankings : #11 in Florida and #4 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale. Recognized in Southern Florida.

Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables is rated high-performing in three adult specialties and four procedures/conditions. It is a teaching hospital.

Rankings And Ratings Of Doctors Hospital

  • Cancer
    • National rank: Not ranked
    • Overall score: Not available
    • Conditions/procedures applicable to cancer:
      • Colon cancer surgery: Not rated
      • Lung cancer surgery: 3/5 (average score)
  • Cardiology And Heart Surgery
    • National rank: Not ranked
    • Overall score: Not available
    • Conditions/procedures applicable to cardiology and heart surgery:
      • Heart failure: 5/5 (high performing)
  • Orthopedics
    • National rank: Not ranked
    • Overall score: 45.7/100
    • Conditions/procedures applicable to orthopedics:
      • Hip replacement: 3/5 (average)
      • Knee replacement: 3/5 (average)
  • Pulmonology
    • National rank: Not ranked
    • Overall score: 52.9/100
    • Conditions/procedures applicable to pulmonology
      • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 5/5 (high performing)

Patient Experience At Baptist Hospital Of Miami

Scores are based on surveys taken from Doctors Hospital’s inpatients inquiring about the different aspects of their stays after they were discharged:

  • Satisfaction with the hospital overall: 4/5
  • Willingness to recommend: 4/5
  • Satisfaction with doctors’ communications: 4/5
  • Satisfaction with nurses’ communications: 3/5
  • Satisfaction with efforts to prevent medication harm: 2/5
  • Satisfaction with quality of discharge information: 3/5
  • Satisfaction with involvement in recovery: 4/5
  • Satisfaction with staff responsiveness: 3/5
  • Satisfaction with hospital room cleanliness: 4/5
  • Satisfaction with noise volume: 3/5

The hospital fared average on inpatient surveys. It scored 3 out of 5.

Doctors Hospital continues its long tradition as one of the most reputable hospitals in South Florida. The hospital is ranked regionally.

Leapfrog General Safety Rating

The latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade for Doctors Hospital is an A for fall of 2020.

The Leapfrog Group rates Doctors Hospital in the categories below.

Infections

  • MRSA infection: Staph bacteria are common in hospitals, but MRSA is a type of staph that cannot be killed by many antibiotics. It is found in bed linens and medical equipment and can be spread if health care providers do not properly wash their hands between patients.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 0.000
    • Best hospital score: 0.000
    • Average hospital score: 0.791
    • Worst hospital score: 2.863

    Doctors Hospital performed best, as no infections were reported.

  • C. diff infection: C. diff is a bacterium that causes diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever and abdominal pain. C. diff occurs in patients who are taking antibiotics or have recently taken them. Like MRSA, C. diff is spread through contaminated equipment or health care providers not washing hands properly between patients.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 0.993
    • Best hospital score: 0.000
    • Average hospital score: 0.583
    • Worst hospital score: 1.737

    Doctors Hospital performed worse than average in this category.

Problems With Surgery

  • Dangerous objects left in patients’ bodies: This problem does not occur often, but when it does, it can be extremely dangerous. Most of the time, the object left in a patient’s body is a surgical sponge.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 0.000
    • Best hospital score: 0.000
    • Average hospital score: 0.017
    • Worst hospital score: 0.354

    Doctors Hospital did not report any cases of dangerous objects being left behind in patients’ bodies.

  • Surgical wounds split open: A surgical wound splitting open is very painful and places a patient at risk of infection.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 0.90
    • Best hospital score: 0.67
    • Average hospital score: 0.91
    • Worst hospital score: 1.20

    Doctors Hospital performed little better than average.

Practices To Prevent Errors

  • Doctor’s-order medication through a computer: Hospitals use computerized physicians order entry (CPOE) systems to order medications for patients in the hospital instead of writing prescriptions by hand. CPOE systems help reduce medication errors in hospitals.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 100
    • Best hospital score: 100
    • Average hospital score: 83.56
    • Worst hospital score: 5

    Doctors Hospital performed best in the category, with no errors reported.

  • Safe medication administration: Using bar codes on medications, nurses scan the medications and then the patient’s wrist bracelet to make sure that the patient is receiving the right medications. Bar code medication administration (BCMA) reduces the risk of a nurse accidentally giving the wrong medication to a patient.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 100
    • Best hospital score: 100
    • Average hospital score: 83.44
    • Worst hospital score: 5

    Doctors Hospital performed best in this category.

Safety Problems

  • Dangerous bed sores: Bed sores are wounds on the skin that form when a patient lays or sits in one position for too long without being moved. They can cause severe pain and serious infections.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 1.38
    • Best hospital score: 0.03
    • Average hospital score: 0.58
    • Worst hospital score: 2.78

    Doctors Hospital performed poorly in this category. The number of bed sores acquired in the hospital was almost three times greater than the average.

  • Patient falls and injuries: Falls can occur when patients who really can’t walk try to get out of bed. Falls can result in longer spells in the hospital and can also result in permanent disability.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 0.282
    • Best hospital score: 0.000
    • Average hospital score: 0.432
    • Worst hospital score: 1.716

    Doctors Hospital performed better than average in this category.

Doctors, Nurses And Hospital Staff

  • Effective leadership to prevent errors: Errors become much more common when hospital leaders do not make patient safety a priority. Leaders must make sure money is properly allotted toward enhancing safety measures.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 120
    • Best hospital score: 120
    • Average hospital score: 117.31
    • Worst hospital score: 9.23

    Doctors Hospital performed best in this category.

  • Enough qualified nurses: Patients receive most of their care from nurses, not doctors. If there is a shortage of qualified nurses, then patients might face more complications and longer stays in the hospital.
    • Doctors Hospital score: 100
    • Best hospital score: 100
    • Average hospital score: 98.37
    • Worst hospital score: 17.65

    Doctors Hospital performed best in this category.

Leapfrog has given better-than-average ratings to Doctors Hospital. The hospital received overall good ratings but fared poorly at safety ratings concerning dangerous bed sores acquired in the hospital.

Healthgrades

Healthgrades has not chosen Doctors Hospital for any awards this year.

Safety Ratings

Two ratings were worse than expected:

  • Death from procedures in which mortality is usually very low
  • Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital

Ten ratings were as expected.

No cases relating to foreign objects being left behind in the body during a surgery or procedure were reported at the hospital.

Patient Experience

  • Patient Ratings
    • 75% of patients gave a rating of 9 or 10 (6% higher than the national average).
    • 79% said they would definitely recommend it (9% higher than the national average).
  • Care Team Ratings
    • Communication With Doctors
      84% of patients said that doctors always listened to them and explained things well (3% higher than the national average of 81%).
    • Communication With Nurses
      81% of patients said that nurses always listened to them and explained things well (3% higher than the national average of 78%).
    • Communication About Medicines
      62% of patients said that staff members always explained medicines before they were given to them (1% lower than the national average of 63%).
    • Discharge Information
      86% of patients were given information about recovering at home (2% higher than the national average of 84%).
    • Care Transition
      62% of the patients said that they understood their care needs when they left the hospital (9% higher than the national average of 53%).
    • Responsiveness Of Hospital
      65% of patients said they always received help quickly from hospital staff (1% lower than the national average of 66%).
  • Facility Report
    • Quietness
      65% of patients said that their rooms and the areas around them were always quiet at night (5% higher than the national average of 60%).
    • Cleanliness
      75% of patients said that their rooms and bathrooms were always kept clean (2% higher than the national average of 73%).

Although Doctors Hospital did not win any awards from Healthgrades, it continues to receive good ratings, thanks to the Hospital’s solid performance in most surveys.

Have Questions? Contact Us.

If you believe that inadequate care or negligence on the part of the medical staff at Doctors Hospital has negatively affected you or your loved one, then it is important to speak to an experienced medical malpractice attorney. For more information on your legal options, contact Kaire & Heffernan, PLLC, today by calling 305-376-7860 or reaching out online.