Becker's Hospital Review

70 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Porter Adventist surgeon calls off spine surgery after discovering dirty instruments By Mackenzie Bean A patient at Denver-based Porter Adventist Hospital says a surgeon halted his spine surgery partway through the procedure aer finding an un- known contaminant on several surgical in- struments, reported 9News. Here are four things to know: 1. e patient, 61-year-old John Kraswoski, underwent the surgery April 4. Mr. Kras- woski's medical records indicate the surgical staff aborted the procedure aer the "dis- covery of contaminant on a number of the instruments," including a "brown-yellowish … pasty material" on one tool, according to 9News. e same surgeon successfully per- formed the procedure on Mr. Kraswoski a few days later at a different hospital. 2. e same day as Mr. Kraswoski's surgery, Porter Adventist sent letters to about 5,800 orthopedic and spine surgery patients, noti- fying them of an 18-month-long sterilization breach that could put them at an increased risk for surgical site infections or exposure to hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV. e hospital temporarily suspended surgeries April 5 and divulged the sterilization issue was a matter of human error April 12. 3. Mr. Kraswoski was not aware of the steril- ization issues — or the then-ongoing inves- tigation by the state health department — when he underwent his surgery. He said his surgeon advocated for him as a patient when he stopped the procedure, but expressed con- cerns about how the hospital responded to the infection control issues. "I mean, they knew about this problem, and here it shows up again … the day of my sur- gery, they find more," he told 9News. "What does that tell you? … [S]omething is not right." 4. Porter Adventist declined to comment on Mr. Kraswoski's individual case. However, the hospital did tell 9News the residue found on surgical instruments was caused by a build- up of calcium, iron and other minerals in the hospital's water source, which was unrelated to the hospital's sterilization breach. "Although completely safe, any increase in minerals when flowing with the equipment can cause some mineral deposit and build- up," the hospital said in a statement. "Once the residue was discovered, Porter Adventist Hospital immediately and voluntarily paused all surgeries in an abundance of caution. It's important to remember that the water quality issue was completely separate from the gap in the pre-cleaning process prior to steriliza- tion." n Physician assistants organization considers revamping profession's title By Alyssa Rege M embers of the American Academy of Physician Assis- tants have called on the organization to investigate the feasibility of changing the discipline's professional title, the AAPA said in a statement May 22. Members of the academy's house of delegates passed a resolu- tion to obtain more insight into the feasibility of altering the pro- fession's title. The group also reportedly discussed alternatives to rename the profession. "PAs did not vote to change our professional title; we are simply going to explore alternatives that may better communicate our role to patients in today's healthcare environment, as well as the practical implications of implementing a potential change," said L. Gail Curtis, president and chair of AAPA's board of directors. "The passage of this resolution should not be interpreted as a move toward independent practice; rather, it's an opportunity to consider if our current professional title accurately conveys to our patients the PA role on the healthcare team," she added. The resolution requests that the academy's board of directors reach out to independent consulting or research firms to discuss the potential change and note causes for concern. The organiza- tion expects the process to take at least one year. n Direct primary care group files for bankruptcy after abruptly closing clinics By Ayla Ellison S eattle-based Qliance Medical Group of Wash- ington and Qliance Management filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy May 17, nearly a year af- ter Qliance closed its primary care clinics, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. Qliance Medical Group listed its assets as just under $600,000 and its estimated liabilities as $1.2 million in its bankruptcy petition. Qliance Management has less than $8,100 in assets and $1.7 million in liabilities. Erika Bliss, MD, co-founded the membership-based primary care business in 2007, and high-profile investors, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, originally backed it. However, the company's backers stepped away from Qliance in 2016, and Dr. Bliss and her partner purchased it. The company abruptly closed its six primary care clin- ics in the Seattle region in June 2017. At that time, Dr. Bliss said the loss of contracts and patients, as well as the inability to secure funding was at the heart of the closures, according to the report. n

• Cover