Becker's ASC Review

May_June_2019_ASC_Review

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83 HEALTHCARE NEWS Physicians sue Tenet, Detroit Medical Center, allege cost-cutting led to patient deaths By Ayla Ellison T wo former Detroit Medical Center cardiologists filed a lawsuit March 25 against the hospital and its parent company, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, according to the Detroit Free Press. Six things to know: 1. Amir Kaki, MD, and Mahir Elder, MD, who were fired from DMC in October for unspecified conduct violations, filed the lawsuit. ey allege multiple DMC patients have died in recent years due to cutting costs and physician incompetence, according to the Detroit Free Press. 2. One incident noted in the lawsuit involved a DMC patient who died in early 2018. Administrators had removed a blood-testing lab from a cardiac catheterization unit to cut costs, and the patient died because it took hours to report his high blood potassium levels to the cardiac team, the lawsuit alleges. 3. e lawsuit also alleges a DMC patient suffered complications and bled to death in 2015 aer physicians mistreated his pulmo- nary embolism. 4. Drs. Kaki and Elder claim they were fired for raising concerns about quality of care and patient safety. 5. In a statement issued to the Detroit Free Press, Detroit Medical Center said: "We do not comment on pending litigation. As we've said previously, we asked Drs. Elder and Kaki to step down from their administrative leadership roles in the DMC cardiovascular service line in October 2018 due to viola- tions of our standards of conduct. Any sug- gestion that these leadership transitions were made for reasons other than violations of our standards of conduct is false." 6. e physicians are seeking reinstatement, back pay and unspecified damages, accord- ing to the report. n Patient sues Northwestern Medicine after medical records posted on social media By Mackenzie Garrity A patient at Winfield, Ill.-based Northwestern Medi- cine Regional Medical Group is suing the health system and a former employee for allegedly ac- cessing her medical records and posting them on social media, according to CBS Chicago. In the lawsuit, Gina Graziano alleges a Northwestern Medi- cine employee gained access to her medical records and illegally sent them to her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend then posted the her medical information on Twitter, the lawsuit charges. Northwestern Medicine sent a letter to Ms. Graziano con- firming there had been "inappropriate access" to her medi- cal records. The employee, who has since been fired, alleg- edly accessed the medical records March 5 and 6, 2018. The lawsuit claims the former employee viewed the medical records for 37 minutes before sending them to the Ms. Gra- ziano's ex-boyfriend. Police are investigating the incident. Northwestern Medicine issued the following statement, according to CBS Chicago: "Protecting the confidentiality of patient information is essential to our mission. Employees are trained to comply with privacy laws and face disciplinary action in accor- dance with our privacy policy for any violation. Regarding this specific incident, we do not comment on pending litigation." n Missouri Supreme Court finds ASC wasn't negligent in credentialing surgeon that didn't disclose lawsuits – 4 key notes By Laura Dyrda I n February, the Missouri Supreme Court decided a surgery center wasn't liable for approving staff privi- leges for a surgeon with undisclosed lawsuits against him, according to a Kansas City Business Journal report. Four things to know: 1. A former patient filed a lawsuit against Saint Luke's Surgicenter-Lee's Summit (Mo.) after undergoing a proce- dure there and experiencing complications. The surgeon, who had lawsuits filed against him, damaged the patient's bile duct during surgery. 2. The patient settled with the surgeon, but also sued Saint Luke's Surgicenter-Lee's Summit, accusing the ASC of negligence. 3. The ASC contended in court that the surgeon did not disclose prior lawsuits during the application process, and filed a post-trial motion "arguing there was insufficient evi- dence presented to support a claim of negligent creden- tialing." The motion was denied, but the ASC then filed an appeal that lead to the Missouri Supreme Court's decision. 4. In a 6-1 ruling, the Supreme Court reversed the prior decision, finding the patient didn't prove that Saint Luke's was negligent in the credentialing process. n

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