Eleven South Florida Hospitals Make HealthGrades List

Eleven South Florida hospitals have been recognized by HealthGrades for excellent clinical performance. Seven local hospitals repeated as Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence in 2009 after the Golden, Colo.-based company had them on its list in 2008. Four hospitals dropped off the list and were replaced by four other South Florida hospitals.

Hospitals remaining on the list were:

 

• Boca Raton Community Hospital
• Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston
• Delray Medical Center
• Jupiter Medical Center
• Kendall Regional Medical Center
• Mercy Hospital in Miami
• Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center

 

Those new to the 2009 list were:

 

• Baptist Hospital in Miami
• JFK Medical Center in Atlantis
• University of Miami Hospital
• Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation

 

Hospitals that dropped off were:

 

• Aventura Hospital & Medical Center in Aventura
• Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach
• Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach
• Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale

 

According to HealthGrades, patients who are treated for the most common conditions at hospitals it recognized for clinical excellence are 27 percent less likely to die and 8 percent less likely to suffer complications after surgery, on average, than patients in other hospitals. HealthGrades does not charge hospitals for participating in the study, but it requests a fee should a hospital wish to promote its performance in the study. Nationwide, HealthGrades gave the clinical excellence designation to 277 hospitals. It determines them by analyzing nearly 41 million patient records from a government database for 2005 through 2007 at every non-federal hospital in the country. Those that score in the top 5 percent in risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates are named Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence.

Please click on the link below to read the complete South Florida Business Journal article:

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/01/26/daily15.html?ana=e_du_pap

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

New Pool Safety Law Goes Into Effect

New standards for swimming pools and spas went into effect in December, with the aim of preventing some of the hundreds of annual drowning deaths. Drowning is the second leading accidental cause of death in children 1 to 14. Starting December 19 (or when the pool opens for the season), the Consumer Product Safety Commission will require all public pools to have safer drain covers or systems that reduce the chance of entrapment. This includes pools at hotels and apartment buildings, so if you’re visiting the grandparents in Florida for the holidays, their condo pool will have to be up to snuff as well. Before you book a room at a U.S. hotel, call and ask the general manager or hotel engineer whether the pool has been brought up to code, and when. He or she should be able to tell you specifically that the drain systems conform to the new standards.

Please click on the link below to read the complete Consumer Reports article:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2008/11/pool-safety.html

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Florida Has Highest Infant Drowning Rate

The rate of drowning deaths for children under five years old is higher in Florida than any other state in country. The rate of child-drowning deaths in Florida is double the national average and the majority of those deaths happened in residential swimming pools. “I think the saddest thing probably in this area is probably drowning and I think at lot of times it’s just those few moments when a pool gate was left open or a sliding glass door was left open,” said pediatrician Dr. Stan Wiggins. Now that the large senior population is returning to Florida, Wiggins says it’s especially important for grandparents to make sure their pool area is secure when children come to visit. “It’s really important when you’ve got young kids, especially toddlers to early school age, that you always have that pool gate fastened that if you’re going to have kids swimming and you have kids of mixed ages make sure that there’s an adult who’s always watching,” said Wiggins. Children drowning are a particularly a concern for young children because the lack of oxygen to the brain can result in severe mental retardation and developmental delays. Pediatricians recommend that parents, grandparents and caregivers learn child and infant CPR.

Please click on the link below to read the complete NBC News article:

http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=23327&z=3

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Florida Adopts ‘Silver Alerts’ for Mentally Impaired Elderly Who Wander Off

Similar to the Amber Alert, declared when a child is abducted, a Silver Alert is circulated when a person 60 or older who suffers from dementia or another cognitive impairment like Alzheimer’s disease goes missing. About a dozen other states, including neighboring Georgia, have adopted similar programs, and legislation creating a national program is pending in Congress. In Florida, where the elderly are so large a share of the population and, according to state government estimates, account for half a million cases of Alzheimer’s, the Silver Alert has had an immediate impact, officials say. Indeed, all of the 19 people for whom the state has issued bulletins since adopting its program in November have been found, said E. Douglas Beach, Florida’s secretary of elder affairs. One feature of the Florida program sends an automated phone call to every residence within a one-mile radius of the missing person’s home, providing pertinent information like a physical description and the vehicle being driven, if any.

Please click on the link below to read the complete New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/us/18silver.html?_r=2&ref=health

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Uninsured Doctors on the Rise in South Florida

A state physician database shows that South Florida has become the nation’s capital for doctors without medical malpractice insurance, leaving patients at risk of getting little financial help for care after a medical error. Nearly one-quarter of doctors in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and one-eighth statewide, opt out of malpractice insurance under a state law that lets them go without coverage. Florida laws has allowed doctors to go without malpractice coverage for decades. Critics say the law raises the chances patients cannot collect enough money in court to cover medical bills from physician mistakes. Also, malpractice victims and lawyers are less likely to sue doctors who don’t carry insurance, experts say.

Please click on the link below to read the complete Health Leaders Media article:

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/215872/topic/WS_HLM2_PHY/Uninsured-doctors-on-the-rise-in-South-Florida.html

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Florida Doctors’ Shortage Trend Only to Worsen, Report Reveals

Many physicians in Florida plan to make cuts to their practices in the next five years and another group of physicians have already done so, according to findings of a first-ever report on the physician work force by the state Department of Health. Of 21,610 physicians actively practicing in the state who responded to the survey, 13 percent, or 2,765 physicians, said they plan to significantly reduce or leave their practices in the next five years, the state’s Physician Workforce report released Tuesday shows. Another 11 percent of physicians who take emergency room calls said they have reduced the number of hours they work in a hospital emergency room over the past two years. “The report reinforces what we have known anecdotally for years,” said Jessica Swanson, program director with the state health department who worked on the project. “Florida follows similar national trends that primary care physicians and young residents are going into specialties where they don’t want emergency room calls or extended hours.” The survey involved half of the state’s medical doctors who renewed their licenses earlier this year and all osteopathic physicians who renewed licenses this year. The other half of medical doctors completed a voluntary survey last year at license renewal time but those 2007 results were not tallied with this year’s findings, Swanson said.

Please click on the link below to read the complete Naples News article:

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/dec/16/florida-doctors-shortage-trend-only-worsen-report-/

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

On-call Neurosurgeon Plan Would Cost Palm Beach County $1.1 Million a Year

A plan by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County to solve a shortage of neurosurgeons willing to handle emergencies could cost $1.1 million a year. Under the arrangement, the county’s hospitals would pay a total of $1 million annually. The health-care district would kick in $145,000. That would be enough to pay an on-call neurosurgeon $2,250 a day, plus $822 a day for the doctor’s medical malpractice insurance, to handle emergencies related to stroke, aneurysms and other brain and spinal injuries. Dr. Michael Collins, ER director at Jupiter Medical Center, applauds the district for coming up with a plan after years of discussion. It’s good to see all the talking coming to fruition,” he said. “We’ll just have to throw this in the swimming pool and see if it floats.” Because several county hospitals are hurting fiscally this year, it’s unclear whether they will ante up a combined $1 million. HCA Inc., which owns three Palm Beach County hospitals, said it wanted to “learn further details” but was making no commitments. Mitch Feldman, CEO at West Boca Medical Center, said he would have preferred that the health-care district’s portion of funding would be higher than $145,000. “It seems the health-care district has cut its commitment for funding rather than expand it to assure access,” he said. The taxpayer-financed health-care district spends $20 million a year to run a countywide trauma system that keeps surgeons and other specialists on 24-hour call at Delray Medical Center and St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. But that’s for trauma injuries, and at just two hospitals. Because most county hospitals don’t have around-the-clock neurosurgery services, ER patients have a better chance of finding a neurosurgeon to treat a gunshot to the head than to treat a stroke. As a result, patients with potentially fatal brain or spinal problems often face delays in treatment, and some are transferred to hospitals in other counties.

Excerpt taken from a recent Sun Sentinel article.

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Study Says Electronic Medical Records Lessen Chances of Medical Malpractice Claims

Electronic health records may help reduce hefty medical malpractice settlements for physicians and insurance companies. In a study done by Harvard researchers, 6.1% of physicians with electronic records had malpractice settlements, compared to 10.8% without electronic records. “The results of this study indicate that preventing medical malpractice claims may be another compelling reason for physicians, practices, and policy makers to forge ahead with efforts toward universal adoption and optimal usage of electronic health records,” said Steven Simon, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. The researchers believe that electronic records decrease malpractice claims because they offer easy access to a patient’s history, which leads to fewer errors, and clear documentation of care in the event of a legal battle.  If the link between electronic health records and lower malpractice payments can be confirmed in other studies, insurers may offer a lower premium to doctors who use electronic records, Simon said.

Please click on the link below to read the complete The Standard article:

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/11/26/electronic-medical-records-lessen-chances-malpractice-claims

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Physician “Diagnosis Bias” Leads to Longer Waits in Emergency Rooms

Please click on the link below to read the complete Emergency Medicine News article:

Constipation, dizziness, back pain — all are common complaints in the emergency department. But they’re also among the problems doctors like to treat the least. Anyone who has ever been tempted (or succumbed) to digging through the charts past “weak and dizzy” to get to a patient with a fracture understands. The downside is that patients with these complaints are most likely to wait longer for treatment in the emergencydepartment waiting room, according to a new study by emergency physicians in Australia. The researchers found that patients with these problems were less likely to be seen within recommended waiting times, a factor the authors blame on diagnosis bias. “This study concentrated on the impact triage presentation description can have on waiting times. Waiting time is an important key performance indicator of emergency department function, and is linked to funding from the state,” said Martin Dutch, BMedSci,MBBS, of Melbourne Health in Australia.

 

http://www.em-news.com/pt/re/emmednews/pdfhandler.00132981-200812000-00001.pdf;jsessionid=JQpC5P1BzM8wWbY0v1cftCt7JGVQQVydYG1rXyQnh1BZ1YxyJs32!-2112048807!181195629!8091!-1

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.