The Texas Department of State Health Services operates a new and useful and interesting program requiring hospital reporting of Preventable Adverse Events.
As a Houston, Texas medical malpractice attorney, I find this program a rare breath of fresh air in a state that affords hospitals so many legal protections and privileges to keep physician competency and quality of care issues secret and hidden away from public view.
The hospital reports are maintained on a database that the public can view online and allows searching for specific hospitals to pull up reports for different periods of the time. The reports allow comparison of each hospital’s reporting of adverse events compared to the national average.
Generally speaking, an adverse event is something that should not happen in healthcare. The Texas program started in 2015, and has phased in more and more required reporting each year. The following lists summarizes what hospitals must report and when such reporting became mandatory.
Starting January 1, 2015
Surgery on the wrong body part.
Surgery performed on the wrong patient.
Wrong surgery performed on a patient.
Object left in patient after surgery.
Death of a healthy patient after surgery.
The release of a patient who cannot make their own decisions to the wrong person.
Any event where a medical gas was not given to a patient correctly (No gas, wrong gas or toxic gas).
Abduction of a patient while at the facility.
Sexual assault on a patient while at a health care facility.
Patient death or serious harm resulting from physical assault that happened at the health care facility.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a fall in a health care facility that caused a broken bone.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a fall in a health care facility that caused the dislocation of a joint.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a fall in a health care facility that caused a head injury.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a fall in a health care facility that caused a crushing injury.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a fall in a health care facility that caused a burn.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a fall in a health care facility.
Patient death or severe harm associated with getting blood in an unsafe way.
Patient death or severe harm resulting from losing a sample that could not be replaced.
Patient death or severe harm resulting from test results were not communicated or followed up on.
Patient death or severe harm associated with the use of restraints or bedrails.
Patient death or severe harm of a mom or a baby during the birth of a child after a healthy pregnancy.
Starting January 1, 2016
Blood clot in a vein or a blockage in the lungs after knee replacement surgery.
Blood clot in a vein or a blockage in the lungs after hip replacement surgery.
Lung collapse when a tube is inserted into a vein.
A deep bed sore that develops while patient is in a health care facility.
Medical order(s) given by a person pretending to be a doctor, nurse, or other provider.
Patient commits suicide, attempts suicide or severely harms themselves in a health care facility.
Patient death or severe harm after a patient leaves health care facility without telling medical staff.
Patient death or severe harm associated with an electric shock while in a health care facility.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a burn while in the health care facility.
Patient death or severe harm associated with taking something metal into the MRI area.
Starting January 1, 2017
An infection after having surgery on the spine.
An infection after having surgery on the shoulder.
An infection after having surgery on the elbow.
An infection after surgery to join the stomach to the intestines.
An infection after having surgery to re-direct food around parts of their stomach to reduce the amount of food a patient gets.
An infection after having surgery to make their stomach smaller.
An infection after implanting an electronic heart device.
Artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or egg.
Coma with low blood sugar.
High blood sugar.
Coma with high blood sugar and dehydration.
High blood sugar due to another condition.
High blood sugar and dehydration due to another condition.
Patient death or severe harm associated with using contaminated medicines or devices.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a device that isn't used properly.
Patient death or severe harm in a patient who had an air bubble in the blood while at a health care facility.
Patient death or severe harm associated with a medicine error.
Quality of care concerns at large Houston hospitals
I have handled many medical malpractice cases against hospitals in the Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist, and CHI St. Luke’s systems, and did some research into the preventable adverse event reports of their main hospitals located in the Texas Medical Center.
For the time period of July 2015, through December 2015, both Memorial Hermann Hospital and Houston Methodist hospital reported significantly more abdominal hysterectomy infections (worse) than the national baseline.
For the time period of July 2015, through December 2015, CHI St. Health Luke’s Baylor Medical Center reported significantly more coronary bypass with both chest and donor site incisions infections (worse) than the national baseline.
What you can do
Any patient considering elective surgery or hospital care should take advantage of all available information, including the Texas Department of State Health Services database.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured as a result of a medical error or malpractice, call Painter Law Firm, in Houston, Texas, at 281-580-8800, for a free consultation about your potential case.
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Robert Painter is a medical malpractice and wrongful death attorney at Painter Law Firm PLLC, in Houston, Texas. In 2017, H Texas magazine recognized him as one of Houston’s top lawyers.
