CMS (Medicare) consultants to take over Dallas hospital

[rainbow4321]

Parkland failed the follow up CMS inspection...they had to strike a deal, agree to let the CMS-chosen consultants in to fix the problems or lose all Medicare (and Medicaid) funding due to ongoing immediate threats to patients' safety/health.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/09/09/general-tx-parkland-medicare-threatened_8669662.html

Officials with a Dallas hospital said Friday they will enter into an agreement with a federal agency to avert the loss of millions of dollars in Medicare funding that had been at risk because of problems at the facility.

Parkland Memorial Hospital was told by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in a letter Friday that its Medicare agreement would end Sept. 30 "because of deficiencies that represent an immediate and serious threat to patient health and safety."

(snip)
A new report released Friday by CMS found that Parkland had corrected its infection-control problems, but that patients still faced "immediate jeopardy" in the emergency room.

However, the agency also told the hospital that it could prevent the funding loss if it entered into a "systems improvement agreement," in which the hospital would accept CMS-approved outside consultants who would work with Parkland to implement corrective actions.

[Ilsa]

1. I worked as a volunteer in one of Parkland's four emergency rooms.

The place could quickly turn into a zoo, but trauma care there was supposed to be the best in the city.

It was a big dirty hospital then. And the staff were very committed medical professionals.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Can you imagine how traumatic thist must be for

the hospital administrators? They should get huge bonuses to compensate. Huge.

[Lint Head]

3. It's about time CMS did something productive. They allowed Blue Cross Blue Shield

to take over a major Medicare contract from CIGNA in Nashville Tennessee even though BCBS is being investigated and sued by the Department of Justice for price hospital price fixing and major anti trust violations. This is another example of powerful people being rewarded even though they are criminals. Wish I could rob a bank and then get a government contract. This country is f#@ked up.

[cutlassmama]

4. This should end well for the poor people in Dallas

:sarcasm:

[rainbow4321]

5. Hopefully, in the end, it will

once the CMS approved/picked consultants get in there and de-corrupt the current system. The care given there now, per CMS, is putting patients in "immediate jeopardy".

And this is not an in-and-out consultant job, they are expected to be in and monitoring the hospital system for at year, per one hospital administrator.