Because of serious medical mistakes at 10 California hospitals, eight patients died, an adolescent lost vision, and a tenth patient sustained severe bleeding from the nose due to medical errors, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The CDPH announced the latest round of penalties, totaling $700,000, Wednesday. It said they are the result of “facilities’ noncompliance with licensing requirements” that caused, or were likely to cause serious injury or death to patients.
Click here for the full list of hospitals that were fined, and the reasons for which they were penalized.
The violations stem from poor nurse training, lack of security, and an inappropriate discharge instruction.
The latest round of violations brings to about $17 million the aggregated fines issued since 2007 when the penalties went into effect by state law.
Violations that occurred before 2009 carry a fine of $25,000. Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, hospitals were issued penalties of $50,000 for the first violation, $75,000 for the second, and $100,000 for the third or subsequent violations.
As of April 1, 2014, the fines were raised to $75,000 for the first penalty, $100,000 for the second, and up to $125,000 for the third or subsequent violations.
CDPH officials say they have issued 341 immediate jeopardy penalties to date, with $16.4 million in fines, and has collected $13.4 million of that so far. Most of the remaining is under appeal. Of the money collected, $5.6 million has been spent on quality improvement programs.
Click here to read the full article, plus the list of hospitals that were fined (and why).
Source link: http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/QUA-313170/10-CA-Hospitals-Fined-for-Medical-Errors
A stark reminder of the potentially high costs of poor training and security.