Go out to any major media site
today, the number of deaths and costs are all there. Estimates project up to
280,000 people die each year from hospital acquired infections and hospital
errors. What does it cost us? About $57.1 BILLION annually; and all of this is
preventable. Mark’s hospital bill only (no doctor bills) is currently at
$1,119,496.99; of this number $293,076.98 was for medications.
Mark did not stand a chance of living after being admitted to UW Valley Medical Center (VMC). Within days Mark was heavily/over sedated, given a respirator to breathe because of the sedation, given oral contrast during this time (which he vomited and aspirated), given 4 antibiotic resistant bacteria in his lungs, not given the proper antibiotics to fight the bacteria, and after numerous botched procedures and lack of infection controls, the bacteria then spread rampantly throughout his body. All of this was preventable.
We tried everything in our power to have Mark transferred to Swedish Hospital and even agreed to pay the $10,000 ambulance transfer fee. Swedish rejected Mark because they “would not be able to collect any revenue (Medicare was Mark’s primary insurance/Regence Blue Shield secondary); Mark’s allotment of insurance money was spent.” This rejection occurred on day 16. Since this time, I have contacted Medicare and they said these statements by the hospitals are incorrect; all insurance would pay to day 90 then secondary insurance kicks in. Swedish has lost all records of this transfer request and the rejection per Ms. Cox and also Dr. Vassall, Swedish CMO.
I hope you will find my letter to VMC below to be “enlightening” on what really happens in hospitals. My links to the right side detail the horror VMC put Mark through; I know Mark is not the only victim. Hopefully, the visibility I am bringing to VMC and the regulatory agencies will prevent this from occurring to someone else’s loved one. I will keep you informed as this progresses.
I am so sorry for the tragic loss of your precious son, Mark. I too lost a son to medical errors. It is a painful journey. Ever since, I have involved myself in trying to find or create meaningful resolution for those impacted. If you ever want to talk I would be honored to listen. If I can help in anyway, I would welcome the opportunity. Regards, Mary Ellen (maryellen@jamessproject.com - new website unvelied 7/25)
ReplyDeleteMary Ellen, I'm sorry for the delay in responding as I have been drafting up additional correspondence for various regulatory groups and the State of Washington in reference to my son and I also work a full-time job. I'm sure you know how that goes. I would love to talk to you more and see how you have made an impact. I went out and briefly read your blog about what happened to James. I am also sorry for your loss and am very proud of you for bringing visibility to what really happens and what doesn't. Another person posted a comment about my email address not being visible (I thought it was on the bottom of Mark's blog). My email address is karieturn@comcast.net I will make sure this is more visible so others can email me too. Please send me an email so we can talk further. Thanks again for reading Mark's story.
ReplyDeleteI sure will email you. Thanks for taking the time to read about my James. It is a hard road. I am so sorry that you are on it. But I wouldlike to help in any way I can. You ahve done amazing work her in your son's memory. He will never be forgotten!
ReplyDeleteHi, this is Regina. Are you on Twitter too? I find advocacy happens much faster there, especially when comes to promoting your blog posts.
ReplyDeleteRegina, I want to thank you for reading Mark's blog and giving me advice. I went out to your blogspot and found you like Mary Ellen are definitely making an impact in the US on these types of issues. I am sorry for you and so many others for the loss of their loved ones; I am horrified at the pain our loved ones went through and it was all preventable. I will definitely be reading more of your blog and accomplishments as your name is all over the internet for patient advocacy/safety. Regina, thanks again for your comments as I am on Twitter and will be learing how to use this to promote patient safety.
ReplyDeleteMom,
ReplyDeletePatient safety is contained within the usual proticol of the Hospital. There are Hospital Bylaws, Infection Control Committees, Peer Review and other committees. There are Grand Rounds where everyone meets and discusses one case.
There are proticols for the use of the Vent.
What is needed is the enviroment for quality. To really care about the details and not to cut corners.
Hospital administration, doctors, nurses, staff and others do not follow twitter.
There are other ways. There are other ideas....
Mom
ReplyDeleteRE : Regulatory Agencies
After you write your letters to them, you will find, like thousands before you, that they don't care and they won't respond to you. And if they do respond to you, the letter will be polite and useless.
Why? That is just the way it is. I am sorry.
Mom
ReplyDeleteIf I can make some suggestions, put your email right under your address and in other places so that people can find it and connect with you.
It would be good if you put this information in multiple places as the attention span of folks is not as long as it used to be.
Mom,
ReplyDeleteAre you are Facebook? If you don't have a personal account, why not make one for this? It is yet another way for you to reach the thousands out there and they can reach you. I guess you can share knowledge with Mary Ellen and others and speed up the learning curve greatly. Our others can do this for you. Just start the dialog......
Thank you all for your feedback as I will have this on Facebook this week and also make my email address more visible. Very good advice. In response to the comment "Hospital administration, doctors, nurses, staff and others do not follow twitter" VMC is actually following me there (even though I've only posted a couple of Tweets) and I agree that a different method would be more beneficial to get the word out. I'm still in the planning phases for my next steps. Lastly, the comment on "Regulatory Agencies and the useless letter" I have not found that to be the case as I am in continual communications with verious Federal and State agencies. We'll see after their audits are completed and I get "the letter." I have a right as a citizen to appeal their decisions (when they close a case) and I will.
ReplyDeleteMom,
ReplyDeleteThere are those with a great deal of experience with all of the regulatory agencies. Just because someone is nice to you or trades stationery with you does not mean much. I am sorry to tell your the reality.
But, there are OTHER things you can do.....
While I have dealt with regulatory agencies, it has not been in the health care environment. I agree that there are other things I can do, some I have not disclosed on this blog and am still working; others I don’t know where to start. It sounds like you have been successful in your journey navigating the health care regulatory world and possible reform. To do this you would almost have to be a Medical Doctor/Registered Nurse and Lawyer all in one or be associated with an organization that has these professionals. There are also many patient advocacy groups and patient safety agencies out there; it’s difficult to decipher which have had the best outcomes of success to partner with. I would appreciate you sending me your thoughts to my email (karieturn@comcast.net) as I always welcome other ideas from people that have already walked down this road and know the system. I think others would also benefit from your knowledge. Thank you for your thoughts
ReplyDeleteWe deserve a proper care especially about the medical care issues. Every day it can happen to anyone about the medical malpractice. To protect our rights Houston medical malpractice lawyer is experience on handling case regarding medical malpractice case. Only an expert lawyer can represent us on our behalf to win our claims.
ReplyDelete