Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1311160
18 PATIENT SAFETY Newark Beth Israel breaks ties with director of troubled heart transplant program By Mackenzie Bean M ark Zucker, MD, director of Newark (N.J.) Beth Israel Medical Center's heart trans- plant program left his role Oct. 30 after being on administrative leave for a year, reported ProPublica. Newark Beth Israel said Dr. Zucker and hospital leaders "mutually agreed that this is an appropriate time for a formal lead- ership transition," according to a hospital news release shared with Becker's. Dr. Zucker will no longer be affiliated with Newark Beth Israel but will still maintain privileges to treat private patients at other RWJBarnabas Health hospitals. West Orange, N.J.-based RW- JBarnabas Health is Newark Beth Israel's parent system. Hospital leaders placed Dr. Zucker on administrative leave last year aer an October 2019 ProPublica investigation ac- cused the hospital of keeping a patient in a vegetative state alive for a year to improve the transplant program's survival rate. Re- cordings obtained by the newsroom show Dr. Zucker instructed hospital staff to avoid giving the patient's family the option to withdraw care and switch to palliative treatments until aer September 2019, or one year aer his transplant. CMS investigated Newark Beth Israel aer ProPublica's exposé and identified sever- al deficiencies with the heart transplant program, which the hospital has since cor- rected. e hospital hired outside experts to conduct its own investigation, which found that Dr. Zucker and the transplant team's post-transplant care for the patient was not unethical or compromised by concerns about survival rates, according to the hospital. "Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has always had a reputation for providing high quality care, state-of-the-art care, and I am truly proud to have worked there for more than three decades, served the community with honor, and contributed substantially to that reputation," Dr. Zucker said in a state- ment that his lawyer sent to ProPublica. In late October, Newark Beth Israel said it would will soon begin a national search for a new heart transplant program director. n 7 patient safety goals for 2021 from Joint Commission By Mackenzie Bean T he Joint Commission in November shared seven patient safety goals for hospitals to focus on in 2021. Every year, the organization gathers new evidence on emerging patient safety issues to inform its goals for the upcoming year. The information also influences "sentinel event alerts, standards and survey processes, performance measures, education materials and Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare projects," the accrediting body said on its website. The Joint Commission's 2021 national patient safety goals for hospitals are: 1. Improve the accuracy of patient identification. 2. Improve staff communication. 3. Improve the safety of medication administration. 4. Reduce patient harm associated with clinical alarm systems. 5. Reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. 6. Better identify patient safety risks in the hospital. 7. Better prevent surgical mistakes. n Stryker recalls device for treating blood clots after 1 death, 11 injuries By Maia Anderson S tryker in November recalled a device intended to treat blood clots in stroke patients after finding a risk it may break during use. The devicemaker said it has received re- ports of one death and 11 injuries related to this issue. Stryker said the device, called the Trevo XP ProVue Retriever, is intended to restore blood flow or remove blood clots in a blood vessel in the brain during an acute ischemic stroke. The company has discovered that there's a risk the core wire may break or separate during use, which could cause the device to remain inside patients' blood vessels or tissues. This may lead to bleeding, disabili- ty or death, Stryker said. The devicemaker notified all of its custom- ers about the recall and asked them to return the devices. n