Hospital ordered to hire neurosurgery reviewer

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Health has ordered Rhode Island Hospital to hire an independent quality consultant to review and monitor its neurosurgery practices, after being notified of the third wrong-site surgery at the hospital in four years.
The department issued a compliance order in the wake of a July 31 surgery to treat a patient with a subdural hematoma (blood between the brain and the skull). Two other such incidents have occurred at the hospital since 2003, involving different procedures and physicians.
“The system currently in place at Rhode Island Hospital for ensuring appropriate surgery has failed,” said Dr. David R. Gifford, the state health director. “We therefore are requiring the hospital to take immediate steps to prevent this from happening again. We also will be looking closely not only at all the health professionals involved, but at the neurosurgery program as whole and hospital systems around patient safety.”
Effective immediately, the hospital is required to have a second physician verify surgery plans to ensure that they are performed on the correct side of the patient. Also as part of the compliance order, the state will monitor the facility, its plan of corrective action, and the hospital’s work with the outside consultant.