Jacksonville Surgery Infection Injury Attorneys
Study: Surgery Centers Lack Infection Control
They are billed as a convenient and a less expensive alternative to a hospital stay. Same day surgery centers are the newest option for those who might need a foot operation, plastic surgery, a colonoscopy, or a pain injection. But a new federal study finds some surgery centers have a serious problem with infection control.
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and find that doctors and nurses failed to wash their hands between patients, failed to wear gloves and even to clean an everyday device such as a blood glucose meter. In order to save money, some clinics were found to reuse devices that were meant for one person. Single-dose vials are a good idea, but not when clinics reuse devices and dip them into the vials for many patients.
In all, 68 centers were visited in Maryland, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. The inspectors followed one patient through an entire stay. Their arrival was not announced in advance.
Among the findings:
- About 67% had at least one lapse in infection control
- 57% were cited for deficiencies
- Among centers using a new auditing tool, 61% had had infection control deficiencies
- Some surgery centers had not been inspected in a dozen years
States are responsible for making sure standards are followed, but some states cannot keep up with the task.
A new auditing tool was used in compiling this report. States are now required to use it to inspect same day surgery centers that are participating in Medicare.
Medical errors account for about 100,000 cases of fatal hospital infection every year. And many of these bacterial infections are resistant to antibiotics.
This study finds the lack of good infection practices may be commonplace at more than 5,000 outpatient centers in the U.S.
More inspections are needed at outpatient day centers that are performing about six million procedures and costing Medicare about $3 billion each year.
Farah & Farah’s Jacksonville Surgery Infection Injury Lawyers Offer Free Consultations
If you or a loved one has been the victim of surgical error or surgical center infection, please contact a Jacksonville surgery infection injury lawyer at Farah & Farah immediately.
