Mount Sinai Medical Safety Report

Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach is a non-profit general medical and surgical hospital offering adult care. Its specialties include cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, ear, nose and throat, gastroenterology & GI surgery, geriatrics, gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonology and urology, among others.

The facility has 613 beds, making it among the larger Miami area hospitals. In the most recent survey year, the hospital admitted 6,530 patients and had 22,126 outpatient visits. Hospital doctors  performed 5,661 in-patient surgeries and 6,177 outpatient surgeries.

By way of brief background, Mount Sinai was regarded as one of the best hospitals in Miami. Relying on significant donations from the residents of Miami Beach, Mount Sinai was a world class hospital. However, the demographics of Miami Beach changed, and the hospital was grossly mismanaged. Mount Sinai finds itself struggling to regain the place it once held. Many qualified doctors have left, and population continues to dwindle.

General Safety Score – 52/100

Surprisingly, Mount Sinai Medical Center has been ranked as the #4 hospital in the Miami metro area and the #14 hospital in Florida by US News & World Report. Several of its specialties are rated as “high performing.” Those specialties include:

• cardiology & heart surgery

• diabetes & endocrinology

• geriatrics

• nephrology

• neurology and neurosurgery

• pulmonology

• urology.

The hospital has also received a score of 52/100 for safety from Consumer Reports. The score is significantly above the average for national hospital scores (44.5). The Consumer Reports score is based upon the hospital’s ability to:

• avoid infection

• avoid readmission

• communicate about medication and discharge

• appropriately use chest and abdominal scanning and

• avoid mortality.

Above Average General Practice Ratings

According to Consumer Reports, Mount Sinai ranked above average for “avoiding death – medical.” This category is based on the probability that a heart failure, heart attack or pneumonia patient will die within 30 days of being admitted to the hospital. The hospital also earned high marks for the appropriate use of chest and abdominal scans on patients. This means that it had a low percentage of “double scans.” Double scans occur when patients receive two kinds of imaging tests consecutively: one without dye and the other with dye. This needlessly increases a patient’s exposure to radiation.

In addition, the hospital earned high marks for avoiding catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

Above Average Specialty Practice Ratings

As noted above, Mount Sinai ranks well in multiple specialities, according to US News & World Report. In these specialties, it ranks particularly high when it comes to:

Survival

Each high-ranking specialty received “better than expected” marks for the likelihood of survival 30 days after admissions (adjusted for severity and other risks). The hospital’s cardiology & heart surgery, diabetes & endocrinology, geriatrics and orthopedics specialties ranked highest, each with a “much better than expected” rating.

Advanced Technology

All high-performing specialties scored “high” and “highest” marks for having advanced technology such as diagnostic radioisotope services, and image-guided radiation therapy.

Patient Services

All high-performing specialty departments received “high” and “highest” marks for their patient programs such as hospice, patient-controlled analgesia, an arthritis center and wound-management programs.

Neutral General Ratings

Mount Sinai received a neutral rating for avoiding infections. While it scored above average for avoiding catheter-related urinary tract infections, it received below average scores for avoiding surgical site infections for the period between 4/01/2012 and 3/31/2013. It also received a neutral score for avoiding bloodstream infections.

The hospital received an overall neutral score for “avoiding adverse events in surgical patients.” Adverse events are defined by Consumer Reports as a measure based on mortality or a longer-than-expected hospital stays. The rates are compared with predicted averages based on the kinds of patients the hospital cares for and the types of surgeries it performs.

In this category, Mount Sinai had 10% more adverse events than predicted based on nearly 100 surgical procedures. The hospital scored best with the hip replacement surgeries, reporting that it had no adverse events in this category. In the category of knee replacement surgery, the hospital had 27% fewer adverse events than predicted.

With back surgery, however, the hospital had 14% more adverse events than predicted, giving it a below average score in this category. With respect to coronary angioplasty, it scored very poorly, with 68% more adverse incidents than expected.

Below Average Ratings

Mount Sinai Medical Center ranked below average for “avoiding death – surgical.” This category rates how often patients undergoing surgery died in the hospital after developing a serious, treatable complication. Such complications may include pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism, sepsis, shock/cardiac arrest or gastrointestinal hemorrhage/acute ulcer. Conditions such as these should be identified quickly and treated.

The hospital also fared poorly with respect to C-sections. According to Consumer Reports, 34% of women with low-risk deliveries had a C-section.

Patient Satisfaction

Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports found that Mount Sinai earned an neutral rating for patient satisfaction, meaning that overall patients were only adequately with the quality of care they received. Of the patients surveyed:

• 95% said the doctors always or usually communicated well.

• 93% said the nurse always or usually communicated well.

• 92% said their pain was controlled or managed well.

However, the hospital received neutral rating for cleanliness, with 89% of the respondents saying that their room and bathrooms were always or usually clean.

The hospital received below average and poor ratings for communication upon being discharge from the hospital or being introduced to new drugs. In particular:

• 82% of patients said they received information about what symptoms and signs to watch for after leaving the hospital.

• 77% of patients said the staff always or usually explained about new medication.

The U.S. News & World Report found that 69% of patients would recommend the Mount Sinai Medical Center to family and friends. This percentage is just above the state average for hospital recommendations (68%) and slightly below the national average (71%). Nine percent of patients surveyed said they would probably or definitely not recommend the hospital to others. This percentage is above both the state average (8%) and the national average (5%).

If you or a loved one were injured or sustained an illness or infection while being treated at Mount Sinai Hospital you could have reason to seek a malpractice claim. Call our attorneys today to discuss the likelihood of your claim.