South Miami Hospital Safety Report

South Miami Hospital is a general medical and surgical hospital offering a large number of medical services.  Its specialities include: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery,  gastroenterology & GI surgery, geriatrics, gynecology, maternity, neonatal intensive care, neurology and neurosurgery, and urology, along with several others.

The facility has 374 beds (although currently licensed for 452), making it a mid-size hospital in the area. In the most recent survey year, the hospital admitted 15,324 patients. Hospital doctors performed 3,475 in-patient surgeries and 5,022 outpatient surgeries.

South Miami Hospital is ranked as the #4 hospital in the Miami area and the #14 hospital in Florida by US News & World Report. Several of its specialities are rated as “high performing,” including:

• gastroenterology & GI surgery (score: 46.9/100)
• geriatrics (score: 49.5/100)
• nephrology (score: 57.8/100)
• neurology and neurosurgery (score: 50.4/100)
• orthopedics (score: 45.2/100)
• urology (score: 61.0/100)

The hospital has also received a score of 57/100 for safety from Consumer Reports. The score is significantly above the average for national hospital scores (44.5) and the average score (45.3) for the hospitals in the greater Miami area that had ratings at the time of this writing.* 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.

According to Consumer Reports, South Miami Hospital earned very strong scores 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 this hospital, 3% of scanned patients received double abdominal scans, while 1% of scanned patients received double chest scans.

South Miami Hospital ranks well in several specialities, according to US News & World Report. In these specialties, it ranks particularly high when it comes to:

Patient Safety.  The hospital scored high marks across specialities for successfully preventing different common types of in-house accidents and errors, including preventing pressure ulcers, post-surgical inpatient deaths from treatable complications, and post-surgical hip fractures.

Advanced Technology.  Certain specialties scored “high” and “highest” marks for having advanced technology such as diagnostic radioisotope services, image-guided radiation therapy, PET/CT scanner and robotic surgery.  These specialties included cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology & GI surgery, gynecology, nephrology, neurology & neurosurgery, pulmonology, and urology.

Patient Services.  Several specialty departments received “high” and “highest” marks for their patient programs such as hospice, pain management, rehabilitation and palliative care. The high ranking departments included cancer, cardiology & heart surgery, diabetes & endocrinology, gastroenterology & GI surgery, gynecology, nephrology, pulmonology and urology.

Reputation with Specialists.  The cardiology & heart surgery, geriatrics and neurology & neurosurgery departments were noted as having a modest reputation among specialists.  This rating was based on the percentage of doctors responding to surveys in 2012, 2013 and 2014 who named hospital as among best for very challenging patients.

Nursing Intensity:  The hospital has 781 full-time registered nurses. The relative balance of nurses to patients is high across multiple specialties.

Patient Volume:  This category assesses the number of high-risk Medicare inpatients in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in key specialty-related procedures and diagnoses.  Patient volume is high across specialities.

South Miami Hospital received an “average” ranking from Consumer Reports in several categories, including:

•  “avoiding death – medical” – a 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.

• “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.

• “avoiding infections.”  The hospital reported 6 bloodstream infections for its ICU patients with central lines between 4/1/2012 and 3/31/2013. This 49% better than national rates.

The hospital performed above average in avoiding surgical site infections,            reporting 2 of such infections in 304 surgical procedures performed between        4/1/2012 and 3/31/2013.  This is 59% better than national rates.

The hospital scored below average for avoiding catheter-related urinary tract        infections. It reported 6 of such infections for its ICU patients with central lines   between 4/1/2012 and 3/31/2013. This is 19% worse than national rates.

• “avoiding adverse events.”  The hospital had 8% more adverse events than predicted.  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.

This hospital had no general below average ratings in the Consumer Reports assessment.

In the maternity department, South Miami ranked low for avoiding C-sections. According to Consumer Reports, 45% of patients with low-risk deliveries had a C-Section.

Survival rates were ranked “worse than expected” in several specialties. These rates reflect the likelihood of surviving 30 after admission, adjusting for severity and risks. The low-ranking department included: cancer, gastroenterology & GI surgery, gynecology, and pulmonology.  On the other hand, the nephrology, orthopedics and urology departments had higher than expected survival rates.

Consumer Reports found that South Miami Hospital scored above average for patient satisfaction. This means that overall, patients were satisfied with the quality of care they received. Of the patients surveyed:

• 96% said the doctors always or usually communicated well.
• 96% said the nurse always or usually communicated well.
• 93% said their pain was controlled or managed well.
• 93% said their room and bathrooms were always or usually clean
• 89% said their room was generally quiet at night.

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

• 83% of patients said they received information about what symptoms and signs to watch for after leaving the hospital.

• 83% of patients said the doctors or nurses always or usually explained about new medication.

The U.S. News & World Report found that 80% of patients would recommend the South Miami Hospital to family and friends. This percentage is both above the state average for hospital recommendations (68%) and the national average (71%).   Five percent of patients surveyed said they would probably or definitely not recommend the hospital to others. This percentage is below the state average (8%) and equal to the national average.

If you believe you or a loved one was injured due to the negligence or inadequate care of the doctors, nurses or physicians at South Miami Hospital contact our office today to speak with us about your legal options