South Miami Hospital Safety Report

Updated March 2018

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 336 beds, making it a mid-size hospital in the area.

Leapfrog General Safety & Ranking – C

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety grade of South Miami Hospital is C, largely due to below average scores in preventing errors and the quality of the doctors, nurses, and staff. This is a downturn; in previous years, Leapfrog rated the hospital with A’s and B’s.

The Leapfrog Group rates South Miami Hospital in the following categories:

Infections: how well patients avoid hospital-acquired infections

• MRSA infection: above average
• C.diff infection: above average
• Blood infections from ICU stay: below average
• Urinary tract infections from ICU stay: above average
• Infections of the surgical site after colon surgery: above average

Problems with Surgery: how well patients avoid surgery-related complications

• Dangerous object left in patient’s body: above average
• Surgical wound splits open: below average
• Death from serious treatable complication: below average
• Collapsed lung: above average
• Serious breathing problem: below average
• Dangerous blood clot: above average
• Accidental cuts and tears: below average

Practices to Prevent Errors: what the medical professionals and staff do to avoid errors

• Doctors order medications through a computer: below average
• Hand washing: declined to report
• Communication about medicines: below average
• Communication about discharge: below average
• Staff work together to prevent errors: declined to report

Safety Problems: how well the patients avoid harm from medical professional’s mistakes

• Dangerous bed sores: above average
• Patient falls: above average
• Air or gas bubble in the blood: above average
• Track and reduce risks to patients: declined to report

Doctors, Nurses, and Hospital Staff: the quality of the work of those in the hospital to ensure the best patient care

• Effective leadership: declined to report
• Enough qualified nurses: declined to report
• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients: below average
• Communication with doctors: below average
• Communication with nurses: above average
• Responsiveness of hospital staff: below average

However, out of the categories in which South Miami Hospital ranks below average, one ranks lowest in the country:

• Specially trained doctors care for ICU patients: South Miami Hospital had the lowest score, 5 out of 100.

Out of the categories in which South Miami Hospital ranks below average, one ranks highest in the country:

• Dangerous object left in the patient’s body: South Miami Hospital had no patients with dangerous foreign objects left in their bodies post-surgery.

Consumer Reports Review

The hospital has also received a score of 51/100 for safety from Consumer Reports. The score is slightly above the average score (47) for the seventeen Miami area hospitals that received ratings.

Avoiding MRSA infections:

• The hospital reported 0 infections during the 89,939 patient days April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017.

Appropriate use of chest scanning

• Less than 1% of patients received double chest scans.

Appropriate use of abdominal scanning

• 3% of patients at South Miami Hospital received double abdominal scans.

Average score for C.difficile infections: 27 reported C.difficile infections during the 68,125 patient days April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017. The infection rate was 36% better than the national average.

Avoiding urinary tract infections associated with catheters

• The hospital reported 4 infections over the 5,721 patient days between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017. The rate was 19% better than the national average.

Avoiding Death – Medical

The rating measures the probability that a patient suffering from a stroke, heart failure, heart attack, pneumonia, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will die within a month of hospital admission.

Avoiding bloodstream infections

• The hospital reported 10 infections during the 9,651 patient days between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017. This was 8% worse than national average.

Avoiding surgical site infections

• The hospital reported 7 infections over the 345 surgical procedures between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017. This rate was 15% worse than the national average.

Avoiding C-sections

1. The hospital reported that 49% of low-risk, first-time mothers had C-sections.

Avoiding Death – Surgical

• The rating measures the frequency of a patient undergoing surgery dying in the hospital following development of a serious but treatable complication.

Heart Bypass and Aortic Valve Surgery:

• Heart bypass surgery goes as expected, with patients having a 96% chance of survival 30 days after surgery, an 87% percent chance of avoiding all five major complications, a 96% chance of receiving all four recommended medications, and a 99% chance of receiving an optimal surgical graft.

Aortic valve surgery, goes as expected, with patients having a 98% chance of survival 30 days after surgery, and an 86% of avoiding all five major complications.

Patient Experience

Above Average Ratings:

Doctor-Patient Communication

• 95% of patients thought their doctor communicated well.

Communication between nurses and patients

• 97% patients reported that nurses usually or always communicated with them well.

Control of pain

• 93% of patients reported that their pain levels were usually or always well controlled.

Assistance from hospital staff members

• 90% of patients reported that staff members usually or always provided help in a timely manner.

Cleanliness of rooms

• 93% of patients reported that their room and bathroom were usually or always clean.

Average Ratings:

Communication regarding discharge from the hospital

• 85% of patients reported that hospital staff advised them of occurrences to be alert for after they left the hospital.

Quietness of rooms

• 93% percent of patients reported that the areas near their rooms were usually or always quiet during the night.

Below-Average Ratings:

Communication of information about medications

• 81% of patients reported that hospital staff members usually or always gave explanations regarding new medicines.

Other Quality Indicators:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

Below average for overall patient experience. The hospital scored no better and no worse than the average rate in avoiding readmissions, with Medicare patients having approximately a 15.3% chance of readmission to South Miami Hospital within 30 days.

U.S. News & World Report Ranking

U.S. News and World Report ranks South Miami Hospital #16 in Florida and #6 in the Miami metro area.  It’s also rated as “high performing” in the following adult procedures:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Colon cancer surgery
• Heart failure
• Lung cancer surgery

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