FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Jana Bullock, 760-241-8000, ext. 8761

Desert Valley Hospital Named One of the Nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters for the 6th time

Anaheim, Calif., April 16, 2012 – Desert Valley Hospital today was named a “100 Top Hospital” by Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. This is the sixth time Desert Valley Hospital has earned the national recognition.

“This award reflects the commitment to excellence and the dedicated patient care that our hospital provides daily,” said Margaret R. Peterson, PhD, CEO of Desert Valley Hospital. “We are proud to be acknowledged as a leader in health care with this prestigious award.”

With nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals surveyed, the hospitals demonstrated that high-quality patient outcomes can be achieved while improving efficiency.  According to Thomson Reuters, if all hospitals performed at the same level as the 100 Top Hospitals award winners:

•    More than 186,000 additional lives could be saved.
•    Approximately 56,000 additional patients could be complication-free.
•    More than $4.3 billion could be saved.
•    The average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.
•    The typical winning hospital charges $464 less per discharge than the typical non-winner.

“This prestigious recognition speaks volumes to our commitment to quality patient care,” said Prem Reddy, MD, FACC, FCCP, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime Healthcare Services. “I congratulate the physicians, nurses and staff at these hospitals for their deep devotion to the highest standards of quality care in the country.”

Five of the nine California community hospitals that earned the Thomson Reuters “100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success, 2012” were Prime Healthcare hospitals: Centinela Hospital Medical Center, among the large community hospitals, Chino Valley Medical Center, Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, West Anaheim Medical Center [three-time winner], among the medium community hospitals, and Desert Valley Hospital [six-time winner], among the small community hospitals. This is the thirteenth time a Prime Healthcare hospital has been recognized with this honor.

The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; average patient stay; expenses; profitability; patient satisfaction; adherence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, and pneumonia. The study has been conducted annually since 1993. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

Comments Off

High Desert Daily

March 18, 2012
By Nolan Patrick Smith

(Victorville) In the past articles in the Desert Valley Hospital series, we covered the new extension as well as the technology utilized by the hospital. For the last part in the series, we wanted to focus on the lives affected by Desert Valley Hospital. It is our pleasure to bring you to story of Mr. Jack Carey, who High Desert Daily was very fortunate to sit down and speak with about his life and his experience with Desert Valley Hospital.

92-year-old Hesperia resident Jack Carey has lived a life full of excitement and intrigue, but if you ask him to tell you a little about  himself, he’ll reply, “Not much, I’m a loser,” with a smile on his face. Mr. Carey has seen the world, and is one of the last living Pearl Harbor survivors, as he served in the Army at the time Pearl Harbor was attacked. Carey recounts the day with impeccable detail, as the memory will always be etched in his mind. “In 1941, I joined the army before the Japanese bombed, before the war started. In September or October, something like that, I enlisted and a couple of months later is when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. At that time, I was stationed at Schofield Barracks, under my recruit training in the Army. There was nothing much we could do because it was a sneak attack. I was eating breakfast at the time, with two or three other guys having breakfast. Then we heard the planes diving in, and we thought it was our own aircrafts training on maneuvers. A few seconds later, we heard all the explosions going on, and that was when the bombs were being dropped. We were stationed right across from where the bombs were dropped, right across from Pearl Harbor. So we all ran out of the mess hall, pots and pans flying everywhere. I don’t know if you saw that movie From Here to Eternity? It was exactly like that.”

Carey was only 21-years-old when he enlisted into the Army, not knowing that war was just around the corner. “We took cover because we saw the planes coming back; a few of the guys got killed alongside of me, but I survived. After that, we strung barbed wire around Waikiki Beach, we were expecting a Japanese invasion, and we thought they were going to invade the island, which they never did. That lasted a couple of weeks, then we got ready to go overseas, to the South Pacific islands; Guam, New Georgia, Bougainville, New Britain, the Philippines, so we battled all over those islands. We took the town of Manila. I was in the 25th Division; the Lightning Division is what they called us in those days. The war was just starting when the bombs were dropped. I’m just lucky I never got wounded. God was with me; someone was looking over my shoulder.”

Only a month after being discharged, Carey was hit with another surprise in the form of Malaria.  “Never got wounded but I got Malaria pretty bad. I didn’t get it until a month after I got discharged. I got the fever real bad and was shaking; I didn’t know what I had. My mom called the family doctor and he said “oh, that guy has Malaria!” They came out in an old World War 1 ambulance, they carried me out in a stretcher, my legs we all hanging way over the stretcher,” Carey said with a chuckle.  “I was in the hospital for a week and a half to two weeks and had two or three attacks while I was in the hospital, and that was way back in 1945.”

Upon serving in the Army, Carey went on to work for the Chevron Oil Company, which was known as Standard Oil at the time. He was there for 35 years, retired when he was 60, yet was still working after retiring in 1992. An extremely active man, Carey had his own construction business, which his son now runs, worked for the county fire department, but left because there was too much sitting around, and has a large family. “I had a nice family, three boys and one girl and lots of grandkids. Big family. Nice family too, they make sure I am doing all right.”

Up until recently, Mr. Carey never had a problem with his heart, but he noticed something different while doing his normal routines. He never smokes, never drinks, and works out on a regular basis, so getting winded one day took him by surprise. “I kind of got out of breath. I have two dogs; well I got three because the neighbor’s dog comes over. So I was walking the dogs, I came back and I got kind of tired from coming up and down slopes, and that’s not like me. So I went to the doctor, Dr. Jacob, he said everything looked good to him, but he wanted to be sure so he sent me to Dr. Pean, who took all these tests. He called me a couple days later and said, “You know, Mr. Carey, you are going to need a pacemaker.” I said what? I heard of guys having it, but I never imagined I would need one.”

Dr. Jules Pean, MD, Cardiologist at Desert Valley Medical Group, handled the procedure on January 3rd, 2012. When Carey was asked about the procedure, he replied, “It was a peace of cake to put that in, nothing to it. I was wide-awake the whole time. I spent the night at the hospital, because they wanted to make sure I was ok to go home. It’s working perfectly, I can’t even tell it’s there.” Carey’s Wife, Darlene, took care of him while he recovered from the procedure. “She’s very good to me, when I was recovering she treated me like a king. She’s a very good person; she remembers things I forget, good or bad.”

So how has the pacemaker affected his life? Mr. Carey has always been an extremely active person; he swam his whole life, even competed in competitions, boxed, as well as rode bikes with his wife. Has the pacemaker slowed him down at all at the age of 92? When asked what he does as a hobby these days, perhaps golfing, he replied, “That’s a sissy game, why don’t those guys get some real exercise? I punch the bag everyday. The yard keeps me going too, and working with my boy.” Mr. Carey continues to work with his son in carpentry from time to time, as well as maintains his yard and lap pool, which he swims in regularly.

When speaking with Mr. Carey, I noticed his perfect posture, as well as his ability to walk on his own with no cane. He only needs glasses to read the fine print, otherwise he can see fine.  A man of great stature, Mr. Carey has one of the best senses of humors I have had the pleasure in meeting, as he told me about his recent check up for his hearing aide,  “I feel pretty good, I went in there the other day and the doctor asked me “How do you feel, Mr. Carey?” I said “how are you supposed to feel when your 92?” I guess I feel alright, I was able to come in without a cane, the doctor laughed at that.” The smile was constant on Carey during the whole interview, as he laughed and joked about many aspects in his life. Carey maintains himself by continuing not to drink or smoke, and to always have a good outlook on life.

We would like to thank Mr. Carey for taking the time to share his adventurous life with us and with all the readers of High Desert Daily. We would also like to thank Desert Valley Medical Group for arranging this meeting. For more information on Desert Valley Hospital, make sure to visit them online at www.dvmc.com.

Leave a Comment

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Edward Barrera, Communications Director
ebarrera@primehealthcare.com

Prime Healthcare Recognized as Top 15 Health System in the Nation

Ontario, Calif., Jan. 16, 2012 – Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of information, today recognized Prime Healthcare Services as one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation based on quality of care, efficiency and patient satisfaction. This is the second time in four years that Prime Healthcare has earned the national distinction. Prime Healthcare was recognized as a Top 10 Health System in 2009 by Thomson Reuters in its first-ever landmark study of health systems based on quality and efficiency. Prime Healthcare is the only health system to receive this coveted recognition on the West Coast.

According to Thomson Reuters, compared to its peers, Prime Healthcare saved more lives, caused fewer patient complications, made fewer medical errors, followed recommended standards of care more closely, released patients half a day sooner on average and scored better on patient satisfaction surveys.

“This prestigious recognition speaks volumes of Prime Healthcare’s commitment to its core values of quality and cost-effectiveness of health care delivery, bending the cost curve in these times of rapidly evolving healthcare reform across the nation,” said Prem Reddy, MD, FACC, FCCP, Founder and Chairman of Prime Healthcare Services.

Among 321 health systems, 2,194 hospitals and over 8 million patient discharges included in the study, Prime Healthcare was among those that had a 24.4 percent lower mortality than was expected, 14.5 percent fewer medical complications, 31.7 percent fewer adverse patient safety incidents, the lowest readmission rates and higher percentage of patients who reported having a better overall hospital experience than comparable hospitals. Prime Healthcare ranked higher than the other 21 health systems in California and the more than 30 other health systems on the West Coast.

“Selection for the 15 Top Health Systems award is based solely on unbiased statistical results,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president of performance improvement at Thomson Reuters. “Because we rely on objective measurement derived from public data and peer-reviewed methods, health systems may not apply or pay for consideration in this study.”

Prime Healthcare’s hospitals were recognized numerous times in the past by various renowned national benchmarking organizations for their quality and efficiency of patient care. The independent Thomson Reuters 15 Top Health Systems recognition is the only study of its kind that aggregates individual hospital performance into system-level data across the nation.

“We congratulate the physicians, nurses and all the staff for putting Prime Healthcare on the top of the chart,” said Lex Reddy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prime Healthcare Services. “They have put the West Coast on the national map of quality patient care.”

The published study that is based on Medicare data of 2009, 2010 and 2011 takes into consideration 12 patient care metrics. Prime Healthcare was the largest system with thirteen hospitals compared to the peer group of two to five hospitals in the study, which underscores its system-wide implementation and adherence to the best-practice guidelines of quality patient care.

“Upon further analysis of the Thomson Reuters research data, I am proud to note that Prime Healthcare excelled even this elite group in the key patient care measures of mortality, patient safety, medical complications and CORE measures,” said Suzanne Richards, RN, Vice President of Clinical Operations, Prime Healthcare Services, who is also a statistician.

Prime Healthcare hospitals that were included in this study were Centinela Regional Medical Center, Chino Valley Medical Center, Desert Valley Hospital, Encino Hospital Medical Center, Garden Grove Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Montclair Hospital Medical Center, Paradise Valley Hospital, San Dimas Community Hospital, Shasta Regional Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital and West Anaheim Medical Center.

Comments Off

Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of information, today recognized Prime Healthcare Services as one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation based on balanced system-wide clinical performance. Read the full story @ http://bit.ly/yYqsjK.

Comments Off

online viagra sales Expansion facility ready to open at Desert Valley Hospital |  Victorville Daily Press.

Leave a Comment

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Edward Barrera, Communications Director
ebarrera@primehealthcare.com

Prime Healthcare Services Recognized for Health Care Technology

Leading Hospital Management Company Uses IT to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Care

ONTARIO, CA, Dec. 1, 2011 – HIMSS Analytics in February will be honoring Prime Healthcare hospitals for their accomplishments in implementing technology solutions that have the ability to improve patient safety and quality of care.

Eleven Prime Healthcare Services hospitals and both of the hospitals from the affiliated non-profit Prime Healthcare Services Foundation achieved the Stage 6 designation of the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Adoption Models. Currently, only 256 hospitals (4.8%) in the United States, and only 269 hospitals in the world, carry a Stage 6 designation.

“Using information technology to improve patient outcomes is our continuing goal,” said Sreekant Gotti, Prime Healthcare Services Chief Information Officer. “This honor reflects the significant investments in technology that the leadership has made and the great teamwork of all the clinical and non-clinical staff across Prime Healthcare hospitals. ”

The Prime Healthcare Services hospitals recognized are Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Chino Valley Medical Center, Desert Valley Hospital, Garden Grove Hospital & Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Paradise Valley Hospital, San Dimas Community Hospital, Shasta Regional Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital Medical Center and West Anaheim Medical Center. The Foundation’s non-profit Encino Hospital and Montclair Hospital Medical Center were also recognized.

HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model as a way of evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. Tracking their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), hospitals can review the implementation and utilization of information technology applications with the intent of reaching Stage 7, which represents an advanced patient record environment.

“We know that it takes executive commitment, support and a great team of health care professionals to achieve this advanced level,” said H. Stephen Lieber, President and CEO HIMSS Analytics. These hospitals “are great examples of how a vision can become reality in the world of health care information technology.”

The hospitals will be recognized at The HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition, which will be held on February 21 – 24,2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sands Convention Center.

Prime Healthcare Services

Ontario, CA-based Prime Healthcare Services, recognized as one of the top 10 health systems in the country, is a progressive, innovative and rapidly expanding hospital management company with a mission to provide comprehensive quality healthcare in a compassionate, convenient and cost-effective manner.

With over 10,000 employees, Prime Healthcare Services currently owns and/or operates 12 acute care facilities: Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, Centinela Hospital Medical Center, Chino Valley Medical Center, Desert Valley Hospital, Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, Huntington Beach Hospital, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, Paradise Valley Hospital, San Dimas Community Hospital, Shasta Regional Medical Center, Sherman Oaks Hospital, and West Anaheim Medical Center.

Nine of these hospitals are accredited by The Joint Commission, and seven of the nine hospitals were recently recognized as Top Performers in the Nation (Top 14%) on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, a Medicare accreditation agency.

Prime Healthcare Services Foundation

The Foundation is a nonprofit public charity that was founded by Dr. Prem Reddy and his family reflecting their commitment to give back to the communities that they serve.

The Foundation owns and operates two nonprofit hospitals, Encino Hospital Medical Center and Montclair Hospital Medical Center (a Top 100 Hospital in the Nation in 2009), and is governed by an independent Board of Directors. Both hospitals were recently recognized as Top Performers in the Nation (Top 14%) on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, a Medicare accreditation agency.

Comments Off

Dr. Suman P. Thakker, Board Certified in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine made the latest Inland Empire Magazine readers poll of favorite doctors for the third year in a row. Dr. Thakker is a member of Desert Valley Medical Group and is on staff at Desert Valley Hospital which was voted a Top Hospital in the Nation. His exceptional understanding of chronic illnesses has helped countless High Desert patients manage their ailments and maintain a good quality of life. His kind manner and compassionate care have earned him kudos from the community. We are proud to call Dr. Thakker one of our own and extend our warmest congratulations for this well-deserved honor.

Comments Off

Prime Healthcare continues its fight with California Watch, (founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting), which appears to smell blood when it comes to the fast growing healthcare management company. Its obsession with Prime is being fueled by the powerful SEIU organization which apparently takes no prisoners if your company fails to kowtow to its demands.

The latest attacks once again demonstrate, that simply by spinning the facts, an over zealous reporter can tarnish a company’s reputation even when the facts refute that reporter’s claims.
A recent posting on the California Watch website — which in turn is disseminated through the internet—  has relied on sketchy comparisons in another attempt to smear Prime Healthcare. It compares certain billing practices at Kernan Hospital in Maryland, alleged (but not proven) in United States v. Kernan Hospital, to the billing practices of Prime Healthcare’s.

Aside from the fact that Kernan Hospital has put in place its own computer system while Prime Healthcare’s hospitals utilize coding software developed by 3M, which is widely used across the United States and accepted by Medicare, the reporter also fails to point out that billing practices of Maryland hospitals rely on a different reimbursement methodology system than utilized in California. In addition, Prime Healthcare’s hospitals utilize practices that are consistent with the principles adopted by the American Health Information Management Association including those related to physician queries. In short, there is no logical basis for any claim that the billing practices of Kernan Hospital parallel Prime Healthcare’s billing practices.

Following earlier erroneous claims by California Watch regarding questionable coding or diagnosis of septicemia or malnutrition, the two prestigious national Medicare accreditation agencies, the Joint Commission and Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program, found no deficiencies. Similarly, the California Department of Public Health found no deficiencies as to coding or diagnosis of septicemia or malnutrition. Also, Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), a Medicare contracted agency that reviews DRG coding, has reviewed the medical records at Prime operated Shasta Regional Medical Center and agreed with the appropriateness of the diagnosis of Kwashiorkor. Another Medicare contracted review agency, Health Data Insights (RAC), which is entrusted with the responsibility of reviewing Medicare DRG coding for all hospitals, found no deficiencies concerning Kwashiorkor at Prime Healthcare hospitals.

It is unfortunate that Prime’s reputation continues to be maligned by California Watch and one can only assume that SEIU has reached its odorous arm into the hallowed field of independent journalism.

Leave a Comment

Patient safety, quality and efficiency can all improve with better document management practices.

Written by Sreekant Gotti October 2011

Originally printed @ http://www.healthmgttech.com/index.php/solutions/hospitals/enjoying-the-fruits-of-document-management.html

In a world where healthcare providers must respond rapidly to change, California’s Prime Healthcare Services moves quicker than most. Ten hospital acquisitions in the last few years will have that effect, as will the host of other regulatory, economic and technology demands currently converging on the organization and others like it.

Prime Healthcare has found that, despite its size – 14 hospitals comprising 2,400 beds and 9,000 employees – and recent acquisitions, a strong healthcare IT base has kept it moving ahead and effectively overcoming industry hurdles. Of these 14 hospitals, 12 hospitals are under Prime Healthcare Services and two hospitals are under Prime Healthcare Services Foundation.

Document management is one area that Prime Healthcare has successfully navigated on a system-wide scale. With hundreds of paper forms in use, leadership identified numerous potential pitfalls associated with a manual process. In fact, the organization’s rapid expansion has served to highlight the need for a cohesive solution for document management delivered throughout the entire network.

Finding the right partner

While the organization was beginning to reap the benefits of automation via its integrated clinical and financial technologies, including electronic health records (EHRs) and a health information system (HIS), Prime Healthcare facilities were still heavily dependent on paper. The health system was relying upon hard copies of admissions, clinical and operations forms that needed to be converted to electronic format. Knowing that manually completed forms and stacks of preprinted papers could lead to problems in both patient safety and finances, IT leadership searched for a full-featured document management system.

Prime Healthcare had specific demands of its solution. For one, it needed a technology that could scale to its large, multi-hospital system to ensure it had a consistent technology at all facilities, which would streamline deployment and allow the seamless flow of data between hospitals. The organization also needed a system that would enable it to quickly update forms. Even when minor changes were required, such as an update to a HIPAA authorization form that a patient receives upon check-in, staff needed to discard all the old, preprinted documents and generate a new batch of forms, adding expense and wasting employees’ time. Prime needed to eliminate this misuse of resources and ensure accurate information across its facilities.

After searching for a document management solution, Prime Healthcare came across FormFast’s logic-based, on-demand workflow and print management system for automating medical records, revenue cycle and patient registration documentation processes. This solution could be seamlessly integrated with other healthcare IT applications, such as the HIS and EHR systems already in use at Prime Healthcare’s hospitals.

Implementing the program

Prime Healthcare needed implementation to progress relatively quickly and a strict timeline was developed. Rules-based functionality enabled the IT staff to easily assign different rules to the various system users, such as patient access personnel or emergency department (ED) nurses. This made system management much easier for the implementation team at Prime Healthcare, given the number of employees using the application at any given time.

Following a rapid implementation process, IT leadership began training clinicians and other staff. Executives were pleasantly surprised that the organization’s 400-plus users could be fully trained on the system in about 10 minutes per session. Demonstrating the new system to several groups of individuals at once meant Prime Healthcare was able to complete all training within just a few days.

Prime Healthcare also took advantage of the transition to create updated new forms, optimizing an easy-to-use design feature developed by FormFast specifically for medical facilities. It wasn’t long before Prime Healthcare had eliminated pre-printed forms for many purposes throughout the multi-hospital system.

The process in practice

When a patient is admitted, staff is able to quickly select and print out the appropriate forms for each individual’s situation. If necessary, forms are completed manually by the patient and signatures are obtained. These documents are then digitized using a high-speed scanner. Once documents are scanned, the data is electronically routed to the correct place in the medical record, guided by barcodes that identify the patient and type of documentation. This prevents time lost in entering data and eliminates errors that can be introduced in data entry – a definite patient safety improvement.

Meanwhile, if nurses or physicians require a specific document, they do not have to search for preprinted forms stored away in a filing cabinet. The system intelligently tracks what forms are necessary for the encounter by parameters designed by the facility. Users then log on and print the specific form according to the exact patient requirements. Hospitals also can set chart forms to be generated automatically in batches, freeing unit clerks or nurses to focus on other tasks.

And since Prime Healthcare’s workflow processes and document management activities are now tightly integrated with its EHR and HIS systems, users can print forms or reports directly from these tools. If a clinician requires a hardcopy of a certain document, such as a radiology report, it can be sent directly to the nursing station and distributed as necessary. Hospital staff in any department can also enter patient data, route the forms to multiple departments and print the completed items when necessary – without the delay and expense of routing hard copies.

All 14 facilities managed by Prime Healthcare are now taking advantage of this automated workflow model, which can be easily scaled to accommodate additional users and systems.

The ultimate reward: efficiency and patient safety

Prime Healthcare began realizing clinical and financial benefits soon after organization-wide deployment of the document management system. For example, when a clinical chart is scanned, data can be directed to both the EHR and the hospital’s billing department. This means that when the patient is discharged, financial services personnel can print out the most up-to-date version of the patient’s bill. Similarly, more accurate and timely claims can be generated, meaning the organization is able to receive reimbursements more quickly, improving cash flow. Further, users have reported that since they aren’t chasing down paper documents, they are significantly more efficient and productive. And with less manual data entry, clinicians have reported a noticeable uptick in the quality of clinical information.

While cost savings and efficiency are, of course, some favorable outcomes of Prime Healthcare’s investment in technology, they are not the most important benefits. The organization’s standard for patient safety and quality are paramount. The health system’s IT efforts have decreased manual errors, helped to ensure accurate information and freed staff to spend more time with patients.

Eventually, all paper forms may disappear from the hospital environment. But, for the time being, every medical facility must deal partially in paper documentation. Prime Healthcare has achieved many important efficiency, quality and patient-safety objectives with the implementation of a comprehensive IT strategy that includes document management. It is now clear that Prime Healthcare’s ability to manage paper in the most effective means possible has played a vital role in the organization’s success.

Comments Off

Taken from VVDailyPress.com on September 5, 2011
Daily Press Staff Writer: Tomoya Shimura

A state health agency has recently exonerated Prime Healthcare hospitals of allegations that they kept inaccurate or incomplete medical records of patients with a deadly blood infection that hospitals are paid a premium to treat.

The California Department of Public Health probed 23 hospitals owned by Prime after receiving complaints from the Service Employees International Union that some of Prime hospitals have the highest septicemia rates in the United States.

The health department found deficiencies in four of them, including Desert Valley Hospital.

At the Victorville hospital, inspectors found problems with record keeping of septicemia diagnoses. At the rest of the three hospitals, the investigators claimed 22 of 120 patients diagnosed with septicemia showed few symptoms of the disease.

Prime called the CDPH’s reports “erroneous” and challenged the findings, claiming that the state agency has no authority to evaluate the doctors’ diagnoses and that CDPH surveyors lacked sufficient experience and training.

An independent physician reviewed the findings and stated there was insufficient evidence to determine that Prime kept incomplete or inaccurate medical records. The CDPH amended its survey findings since then.

For more about allegations, read the full story in Thursday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Tomoya Shimura may be reached at (760) 955-5368 or TShimura@VVDailyPress.com. Follow Tomoya on Facebook at facebook.com/ShimuraTomoya.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/hospitals-30501-prime-health.html

Comments Off