As a Houston, Texas medical malpractice attorney, I am very familiar with Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center, which is located at 6411 Fannin, Houston, Texas 77030. It is a major academic and research hospital that offers a variety of specialized services and cutting-edge surgical care.
According to Medicare’s hospital comparison data, there are quality of care concerns that current and future patients should be aware of.
Medicare ranks hospitals nationwide based on 57 quality measures related to common conditions that hospitals treat, such as heart attacks, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and stroke. Other quality measures focus on hospital-acquired infections, hospital readmission rates, patient experiences with hospital facilities, doctors, and nurses, efficient use of diagnostic radiology imaging, and timeliness of care.
Under the most current data, Medicare gave Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center an overall rating of two out of five (2/5) stars. The hospital received this low overall rating because its performance was below the national average on readmission rates, timeliness of care, and efficient use of diagnostic radiology imaging.
For the category of readmission rates, Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center heart failure patients had more readmission days than the national average. A readmission is defined as an unplanned return to the hospital after leaving the hospital.
In terms of timeliness of care, Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center fell below the national average in several indicators.
For patients with a history of polyps, Medicare measures the percentage of patients receiving a follow-up colonoscopy in the appropriate timeframe. The Texas and national averages were the same, 90%. For this hospital, only 74% of its patients received a timely follow-up colonoscopy.
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center has a very high volume of patients in its emergency room (ER), so Medicare compares it to other hospitals with very high ER patient volumes.
It takes an average of 36 minutes for a patient to be seen by a healthcare professional in this hospital’s ER, as compared to 21 minutes for the Texas average and 26 minutes for the national average.
Some 4% of patients leave the Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center before being seen, as compared to 2% for the Texas and national averages.
For those who were seen in the ER and discharged, it took an average of 188 minutes before leaving from the visit at this hospital, as compared to an average of 163 minutes for Texas hospitals and 172 minutes nationwide.
For patients who are eventually admitted to the hospital through the ER, Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center spend an average of 292 minutes in the ER before being admitted.
The indicator that Medicare tracks related to pregnancy and labor and delivery care is the percentage of mothers whose deliveries where scheduled too early (one to two weeks early), when a scheduled delivery was not medically necessary. The Texas and national averages are 2%, but the average at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center is 3%.
For the indicator of diagnostic radiology imaging, this hospital had an abnormally high rate of outpatient CT scans that were combination/double scans (meaning one with contrast and one without contrast). Medicare commented that if a number is too high, it may mean that too many patients have a double scan when a single scan is all they need. Having two scans instead of one doubles the patient’s radiation exposure. The Texas average was 11.4%, national average was 7.8%, and Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center's average was 23.1%.
We are here to help
Some of our clients have told me that they had a hard time finding a lawyer to investigate care at Memorial Hermann hospitals, which are part of the largest hospital system in Houston. This is not the case at Painter Law Firm. I can’t even remember how many medical negligence lawsuits that I have filed involving Memorial Hermann hospitalizations.
If you or someone you love has been seriously injured from healthcare provided at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center, or any other hospital in Texas, our experienced medical negligence attorneys can help. Click here to send us a confidential email via our “Contact Us” form or call us at 281-580-8800.
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Robert Painter is a medical malpractice attorney at Painter Law Firm PLLC, in Houston, Texas. He is a former hospital administrator who represents patients and family members in medical negligence and wrongful death lawsuits against hospitals, physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other healthcare providers. In 2017, H Texas magazine named him one of Houston’s top lawyers. Also in 2017, the Better Business Bureau recognized Painter Law Firm PLLC with its Award of Distinction.
