NORTH SHORE MEDICAL CENTER REVIEW
Updated May 2021
North Shore Medical Center is a full-service acute care medical center. It serves more than 80,000 patients per year and is owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare.
North Shore provides a range of medical services and specialties including 24-hour emergency care, a Cancer Center equipped with EDGE radiosurgery technology, robotic surgery, level III neonatal intensive care, and high-risk maternity care.
It has a comprehensive Stroke Center which treats patients suffering from severe ischemic strokes.
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Overview of North Shore Medical Center
North Shore Medical Center in Miami, Florida is rated high-performing in 2 procedures and conditions. It is a teaching hospital.
Rankings and Ratings of North Shore Medical Center
- Cancer
- National rank: Not ranked
- Overall score: Not available
- Conditions/procedures applicable to cancer
- Lung Cancer Surgery: Not rated
- Colon 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)
- Heart bypass surgery: 2/5 (Below average)
- Abdominal, aortic, aneurysm repair: 2/5 (Below average)
- Aortic valve surgery: 2/5 (Below average)
- Orthopedics
- National rank: Not ranked
- Overall score: 18.5/100
- Conditions/procedures applicable to orthopedics
- Hip replacement: 3/5 (Average)
- Knee replacement: 3/5 (Average)
- Pulmonology
- National rank: Not ranked
- Overall score: 17.7/100
- Conditions/procedures applicable to pulmonology
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 5/5 (High performing)
Patient Experience at North Shore Medical Center
Scores are based on surveys taken from North Shore Medical Center’s inpatients inquiring about the different aspects of their stay after they were discharged.
- Satisfaction with the Hospital overall: 2/5
- Willingness to recommend: 2/5
- Satisfaction with doctors’ communications: 1/5
- Satisfaction with nurses’ communications: 2/5
- Satisfaction with efforts to prevent medication harm: 2/5
- Satisfaction with quality of discharge information: 1/5
- Satisfaction with involvement in recovery: 1/5
- Satisfaction with staff responsiveness: 1/5
- Satisfaction with hospital room cleanliness: 2/5
- Satisfaction with noise volume: 2/5
The hospital fared below average on patient surveys. It scored 2 out of 5.
North Shore Medical Center used to be one of the best hospitals in the Country. The hospital’s ratings are below-average. In recent times, it has not been able to earn a national ranking.
Leapfrog General Safety Rating
The latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety grade of North Shore Medical Center is A for fall of 2020.
The Leapfrog group rates North Shore Medical Center in the following categories:
Infections
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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 linen or medical equipment and can be spread if healthcare providers do not properly wash hands between patients.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 0.531
- Best hospital score: 0.000
- Average hospital score: 0.791
- Worst hospital score: 2.863
North Shore Medical Center performed better than average in this category.
-
C. Diff Infection
C. Diff is a bacterium that causes diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever, and abdominal pain. C. Diff occurs in patients taking antibiotics or who have recently taken them. Like MRSA, C. Diff is spread through contaminated equipment or healthcare providers not washing hands properly between patients.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 0.319
- Best hospital score: 0.000
- Average hospital score: 0.583
- Worst hospital score: 1.737
North Shore Medical Center performed better than average in this category.
Problems with Surgery
-
Dangerous objects left in patients’ bodies
This problem does not occur often, but if it does, it can be extremely dangerous. Most of the times, the object left in patients’ body is a surgical sponge.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 0.000
- Best hospital score: 0.000
- Average hospital score: 0.017
- Worst hospital score: 0.354
North Shore Medical Center 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.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 0.85
- Best hospital score: 0.67
- Average hospital score: 0.91
- Worst hospital score: 1.20
North Shore Medical Center performed better than average.
Practices to Prevent Errors
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Doctors’ 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 to reduce medication errors in hospitals.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 100
- Best hospital score: 100
- Average hospital score: 83.56
- Worst hospital score: 5
North Shore Medical Center performed best in the category with no errors reported.
-
Safe medication administration
Using barcodes on medications, nurses scan the medications and then the patient’s wrist bracelet to make sure the patient is receiving the right medications. Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) reduce the risk of a nurse accidentally giving the wrong medication to a patient.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 100
- Best hospital score: 100
- Average hospital score: 83.44
- Worst hospital score: 5
North Shore Medical Center performed best in this category.
Safety Problems
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Dangerous bedsores
Bedsores 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.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 0.86
- Best hospital score: 0.03
- Average hospital score: 0.58
- Worst hospital score: 2.78
North Shore Medical Center performed worse than average in this category.
-
Patient falls and injuries
Falls can occur when patients who really can’t walk, try getting out of bed. Falls can result in longer spells in the hospital and can also result in permanent disability.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 0.862
- Best hospital score: 0.000
- Average hospital score: 0.432
- Worst hospital score: 1.716
North Shore Medical Center performed worse than average in this category.
Doctors, Nurses, and Hospital Staff
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Effective leadership to prevent errors
Errors become much common if hospital leaders do not make patient safety a priority. Leaders must make sure money is properly allotted towards enhancing safety measures.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 120
- Best hospital score: 120
- Average hospital score: 117.31
- Worst hospital score: 9.23
North Shore Medical Center performed best in this category.
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Enough qualified nurses
Patients receive most of their care from nurses and not doctors. If there is a shortage of qualified nurses, patients might face more complications, and longer stays in the hospital.
- North Shore Medical Center’s score: 100
- Best hospital score: 100
- Average hospital score: 98.37
- Worst hospital score: 17.65
North Shore performed best in this category.
Leapfrog has given better than average ratings to North Shore Medical Center. For a reputable hospital like North Shore, the low ratings it received for Bed Sores, and Hospital Falls and Injuries are big dents in the Hospital’s image.
Healthgrades
Healthgrades has chosen North Shore Medical Center for numerous Awards in the past. This year the only recognition it received was:
- America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Prostate Surgery (2021, 2020)
Safety Ratings
One rating was better than expected:
- Accidental cut, puncture, perforation or hemmorhage during medical care
One rating was worse than expected:
- Break down of abdominal incision site
Ten ratings were as expected.
No cases relating to foreign objects left in the body during a surgery or procedure were reported at the hospital.
Patient Experience
- Patient Ratings
- 62% patients gave a rating of 9 or 10. (5% lower than national average)
- 62% said they would definitely recommend. (8% lower than the national average)
- Care Team Ratings
- Communication with Doctors
78% of patients said that doctors always listened to them and explained things well. (3% lower than the national average fo 81%) - Communication with Nurses
74% of patients said that nurses always listened to them and explained things well. (4% lower than the national average of 78%) - Communication about Medicines
63% of patients said that staff members always explained medicines before they were given to them. (same as the national average of 63%) - Discharge Information
79% of patients were given information about recovering at home. (5% lower than the national average of 84%) - Care Transition
46% of the patients said that they understood their care needs when they left the hospital. (7% lower than the national average of 53%) - Responsiveness of Hospital
62% of patients said they always received help quickly from hospital staff. (4% lower than the national average of 66%)
- Communication with Doctors
- Facility Report
- Quietness
57% of patients said that their rooms and the area around it were always quiet at night. (3% lower than national average of 60%) - Cleanliness
72% of patients said that their rooms and bathrooms were always kept clean. (1% lower than the national average of 73%)
- Quietness
North Shore Medical Center has not received good ratings from Healthgrades and its patients gave the Hospital a below-average ratings too in Healthgrades’ surveys.
If you believe that inadequate care or negligence on the part of the medical staff at North Shore Medical Center has negatively affected you or your loved one, it is important to speak to an experienced medical malpractice attorney. For more information on your legal options, contact our office today.
