Palmetto General Hospital Safety Report

Facilities: 360 beds, serves more than 130,000 patients each year, employs 574 registered nurses.

Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Florida, is a 360-bed, for-profit teaching hospital that employs 574 registered nurses. The hospital, which opened in 1971 with 50 beds, serves more than 130,000 patients annually and holds accreditation by the Joint Commission or DNV Healthcare, according to Consumer Reports.

Palmetto General Hospital’s specialties include cancer, emergency medicine, heart and vascular, maternity, neurosciences, orthopedics, rehabilitation, robotic surgery, surgical
weight loss, women’s health, wound care and several others.

General Safety & Ranking – 40/100

Overall ranking of 40/100 from Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports gives Palmetto General Hospital an overall safety ranking of 40 out of 100 based on five key metrics: readmissions, communication, complications, infections and overuse of CT scans.

Additional factors in the safety score include the hospital’s above-average ratings for appropriate use of abdominal scanning and appropriate use of chest scanning, along with below-average ratings for avoiding readmissions, avoiding death — surgical, communication about hospital discharge, and communication about drug information. The  hospital received average safety ratings for avoiding infections and avoiding death — medical.

Above Average Ratings — General

57% better than the national average: avoiding bloodstream infections.

Only 7% of patients received double abdominal scans. 

No patients received double chest scans.

Among patient outcomes, Consumer Reports gives Palmetto General Hospital an above average rating for avoiding infections in the bloodstream. The hospital reported just six such infections over 7,306 patient days for individuals being treated in intensive care between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. The bloodstream infection rate was 57-percent better than the national average based on the hospital’s specific types of intensive-care units.

In addition, the hospital ranked above average for using abdominal scanning appropriately, with just 7 percent of patients who underwent scans having received double abdominal scans. The hospital also received an above-average rating for appropriate use of chest scanning, with no patients having received double chest scans during the surveyed period.

U.S. News & World Report has not awarded any above-average general ratings to Palmetto General Hospital for the surveyed period.

Above Average Ratings — Specialties

No ratings awarded for heart bypass surgery or aortic valve replacement surgery.

One of Palmetto General Hospital’s specialties is heart and vascular services, but Consumer Reports notes that no rating has been awarded for overall performance in heart bypass
surgery, including patient survival, absence of complications, recommended medications and optimal surgical technique. In addition, no rating has been awarded for overall  performance in aortic valve replacement surgery, including patient survival and absence of complications.

Average Ratings

Avoiding surgical-site infections: 36% better than the national rate.

Avoiding catheter-associated urinary tract infections: 17% better than the national rate.

Avoiding C.difficile infections: 38% better than the national rate.

Among patient outcomes, Palmetto General Hospital received an overall average rating for avoiding infections. Subcategories that also received an overall average rating included:

Avoiding infections of surgical sites

The hospital reported three surgical-site infections across 259 procedures between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. The rate was 36-percent better than national rates for the surgical procedures this hospital offers.

Avoiding urinary tract infections associated with catheters.

The hospital reported 13 such infections over 7,199 patient days in which intensive-care patients had catheters between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. The rate was 17-percent better than national rates for hospitals with the same mix of intensive-care units.

Avoiding C.difficile infections

The hospital reported 55 such infections in the 100,467 patient days between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. The rate was 38-percent better than national rates.

For other types of patient outcomes, the hospital received an average rating for the category of avoiding death — medical. The rating is based on the possibility that a patient treated for stroke, heart failure, heart attack, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or pneumonia will die within 30 days of hospital admission.

Below Average Ratings — General

Avoiding MRSA infections: 45% worse than national rates.

Avoiding readmissions: 17% chance of readmission within 30 days for Medicare patients

In the patient outcome category of avoiding infections, Consumer Reports ranked Palmetto General Hospital below average for avoiding MRSA infections. The hospital reported nine infections from MRSA over 103,569 patient days between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015. The number of infections resulted in a rating that was 45-percent worse than national rates.

For other patient outcomes, the hospital ranked below average in two areas. Under the category of avoiding readmissions, Medicare patients had a 17-percent chance of being
readmitted to Palmetto General Hospital within 30 days of treatment. The hospital also was ranked below average in the category of avoiding death — surgical. The rating takes into account how often patients having surgery at the hospital died after developing a complication that was serious but treatable.

Below Average Ratings — Specialties

Avoiding C-sections: 38% of first-time, low-risk deliveries had a C-section

Within the specialty of maternity care, Palmetto General Hospital ranked below average for avoiding C-sections; 38 percent of women giving birth for the first time with low-risk
deliveries underwent a C-section.

Patient Satisfaction

93% say doctors and nurses always or usually communicated well.

90% say their pain was always or usually well-controlled.

90% say their room and bathroom were always or usually clean.

Within the category of patient experience, Palmetto General Hospital received an average rating overall. The hospital received above-average ratings in several subcategories,
including:

• Communication among patients and doctors: 93 percent of patients reported that their physicians usually or always communicated well with them.
• Communication among patients and nurses: 93 percent of patients reported that nurses usually or always communicated well with them.
• Pain control: 90 percent of patients reported that their pain was usually or always well-controlled.
• Cleanliness of rooms: 90 percent of patients reported that their room and bathroom were usually or always clean.

The hospital received an average rating for one subcategory of patient experience: help from hospital staff. Eighty-eight percent of patients reported that hospital staff members usually or always provided help in a timely manner.

The hospital also received several below-average ratings related to patient experience. When it came to receiving communication from staff about discharge from the hospital, 78 percent of patients reported that they were advised of signs to watch for after they left the hospital.

Meanwhile, 74 percent of patients noted that staff members usually or always provided explanations about new medications. In the area of room quietness, 83 percent of patients
reported that the areas around their rooms were usually or always quiet during the night.

U.S. News & World Report

Average ratings for: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, hip replacement.

Below-average ratings for: heart bypass surgery, knee replacement

For adult procedures and conditions, U.S. News & World Report gives Palmetto General Hospital several average and below-average ratings. The publication awarded average ratings for:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

While the hospital was ranked significantly worse than expected on 30-day survival rates, the areas of readmissions for any reason within 30 days, event-free admissions and hospital-acquired infections ranked as expected, while readmissions related to COPD within 30 days ranked as better than expected, and the hospital was ranked “high” for patient volume. The hospital ranked worse than expected for patient experience.

Heart failure

Average, as-expected and better-than-expected ratings included 30-day survival, readmissions within 30 days related to heart failure, hospital-acquired infections, and nurse staffing. Ratings of “worse than expected” were given for readmissions within 30 days for any reason, event-free admissions and patient experience. Patient volume was rated as high.

Hip replacement

The hospital received a ranking of average, as expected or better than expected for survival, combined hip and knee; readmissions for any reason within 30 days; hospital-acquired infections; complications, combined hip and knee; hip revisions; and nurse staffing. The hospital ranked worse than expected in the category of survival in multiple procedures and patient experience. Volume was ranked as low.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Palmetto General Hospital below average in two specialties: heart bypass surgery and knee replacement.

If you or a loved one have been harmed because of inadequate care or negligence by nurses, doctors or other medical staff members at Palmetto General Hospital, it’s important that you speak with an experienced personal injury attorney. For a consultation regarding your legal options, please contact our office today.