As a Houston, Texas medical malpractice attorney, I handle medical negligence and wrongful death cases throughout Harris County, including Cypress, Texas.
North Cypress Medical Center, located at 21214 Northwest Freeway, Cypress, Texas 77429 is one of the major hospitals in the Cypress area. I have handled many lawsuits in matters involving health care provided at this hospital.
According to Medicare’s hospital comparison data, there are quality of care concerns that current and future patients of North Cypress Medical Center 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 North Cypress 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 safety of care, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care, and efficient use of diagnostic radiology imaging.
In the categories of timeliness, safety, and effectiveness of care, the hospital fell below Texas and national average in several indicators. First, the percentage of North Cypress Medical Center patients with a history of polyps who received follow-up colonoscopy in the appropriate timeframe was only 48%, in comparison with 90% for both the Texas and national averages. In addition, this hospital performed worse than the national value for serious complications for patient safety indicators defined by Medicare.
Concerning the measure of patient experience, patients ranked this hospital as performing below the Texas average for 10 out of 11 categories. North Cypress Medical Center’s below Texas average performance included the following categories: nurses and doctors always communicating well, always receiving help as soon as they wanted, always having their pain well-controlled, always having medicines explained before administrating,, always having their room and bathroom clean, being given adequate discharge information, strongly agreeing that they understood their care when they left the hospital, giving the hospital a nine or 10 rating, and recommending the hospital.
For the category of efficient use of diagnostic radiology imaging, North Cypress Medical Center had a higher percentage than both the Texas and national averages of outpatients with lower back pain who had an MRI without trying recommended treatments, such as physical therapy, first. Medicare believes that this may mean that the hospital is doing too many unnecessary MRIs for lower back pain.
Concerning outpatient abdominal CT scans that were combination or double scans (meaning with contrast and without contrast), the Texas average is 11.4% of patients and the national average is 7.8% of patients. North Cypress Medical Center performs double scans on 52.2% of such patients. Medicare believes that it may mean that too many patients have a double scan when a single scan is all that they need. As a medical malpractice lawyer, I am aware that extra CT scans expose patients to unnecessary radiation.
Similarly, this hospital has higher than Texas and national averages of outpatients who have brain CT scans and sinus CT scans at the same time. Medicare believes that only one scan is necessary.
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If you or someone you love has been seriously injured by poor health care at North Cypress 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. In May 2018, the Better Business Bureau recognized Painter Law Firm PLLC with its Award of Distinction.
