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Detroit Children's Hospital fails inspection, could be dropped from Medicare

Posted at 5:04 PM, Mar 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-27 18:37:06-04

Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit is in danger of being dropped from participation in Medicare after failing an inspection in January.

The inspection, conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, found "deficiencies" that "are significant and limit hospital's capacity to render adequate care and ensure the health and safety of" patients.

The inspection found the problems in the hospital's surgical services.

Karmanos Cancer Center also failed the inspection, while Harper Hospital and Detroit Receiving passed their inspections.

Children's could be dropped from the Medicare program, if they fail a follow up inspection that needs to be conducted by May 23. The inspection will not be announced ahead of time.

Karmanos Cancer Center has released the following statement, saying they have already taken corrective action:

Representatives from the Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and the State of Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) made an unannounced two-day visit to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit, January 30. The purpose of this visit was related to an ongoing investigation of the Central Sterile Processing department at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC).

Karmanos is located on the DMC campus in mid-town Detroit and purchases certain services from DMC which include the use of operating rooms and surgical equipment.

As a result of the review, surveyors presented us with citations. Corrective action plans demonstrating our compliance with standards were developed and submitted to the Joint Commission, CMS and LARA.

We were pleased to be informed March 20 by The Joint Commission that it granted Karmanos an accreditation decision of Accredited, effective February 01, 2017. The Joint Commission also recommended Karmanos receive continued Medicare certification, effective February 01, 2017. We have submitted a copy of the letter to LARA and we are awaiting our follow-up visit.

As a part of our normal process of monitoring the clinical quality of all of our patient care programs and services, Karmanos Cancer Center closely monitors key performance indicators. These data demonstrate that there has been no increase in our surgical site infections over the past year. We remain committed to further strengthening our infection control program to guarantee that our patients continue to receive safe and high quality cancer care.

Had they not addressed the issues, Karmanos was also in danger of being dropped by Medicare. That is no longer in danger of happening.

While Harper and Receiving are currently in compliance, they were also cited with violations during the inspections.

All four facilities have filed plans of correction with the regulatory authority and are working to correct the deficiencies.