Canadian Hospitals can Improve Their Re-admission Rates

Canada’s hospitals could improve its readmission rates

by | Feb 13, 2014 | Blogs, Medical Malpractice |

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(Photo credit: sbpp/SXC)

When you’ve broken your leg or need surgery for appendicitis, you always assume that the hospital is the safest place to be treated. Unfortunately, sometimes this isn’t always the case.

Canada’s hospitals give cancer treatments to patients in a timely manner, but there have been longer wait times for joint replacements, according to a recently launched website, OurHealthSystem.ca, by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). The website lets Canadians gain insight into how well Canada’s healthcare system is working for them including information on readmission rates after 30 days of discharge, deaths in hospitals and disease promotion.

While hospital deaths have dropped within the last five years by 18 per cent, unfortunately one in 12 patients is readmitted within a month of leaving. Also, if you have a family member or relative in a long-term care facility, they might be one of three residents being given antipsychotic drugs that they don’t need since they haven’t been diagnosed with psychosis.

Also, a recent report by the CIHI shows that Canadian hospitals place well compared to countries around the world for wait times for cataract surgery (median wait of 46 days), hip replacement (median wait of 87 days) and knee replacement (median wait of 106 days). But international surveys dispute this information since Canadian patients have one of the longest wait times to gain access to a specialist.

Canada’s doctors could also work towards improving double checking whether there’s been a foreign objects, such as sponges and medical device parts, left in a patient after surgery. Its performance was among the worst, says the report. Unfortunately, leaving foreign objects in a patient after a procedure is a common error that takes place in emergency rooms. A Yukon court recently awarded a woman $60,000 after two doctors failed to remove her intrauterine birth control device. She endured abdominal cramps and chronic pelvic pain for 20 years, when the doctors couldn’t find the device and assumed that it had already been removed during her abortion.

Also, Canada’s hospitals could improve their obstetrician care since 17 per cent of instrument-assisted vaginal deliveries result in a tear to the woman’s perineum during birth, while three per cent of deliveries without an instrument result in a tear to that area during birth. If the obstetrician uses an instrument to help them deliver, trauma rates are nearly six times higher than if they deliver without any tools. While these rates can be improved by training in perineal protection or constant monitoring during labour, the report adds that Canada may do worse in this indicator because of its detailed data collection. Childbirth is a fragile time for both the mother and the newborn and obstetrician can be found liable for any injuries during this time.

You might not realize this, but hospitals are also battling the risk of infections with researchers estimating that 8,000 to 12,000 patients die each year from an infection they acquired from a hospital, according to the Globe and Mail.

Hospitals are working towards improving their work environment with a Nova Scotian hospital creating a medical mistake registry that must have mistakes reported within 12 hours, which allows the province to identify trends or problem areas, Health Minister Leo Glavine told the CBC.

Also, a recent article in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety suggests that hospitals restructure their work weeks to remedy the “weekend effect,” where patients are unfortunately more likely to die due.

If you’ve been injured by negligence by a doctor or healthcare worker, you can be compensated. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling all types of injuries for over 40 years including injuries from negligent medical workers. We understand the impacts injuries can have on your life and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.

Greg Neinstein

Greg Neinstein

Greg Neinstein, B.A. LLB., is the Managing Partner at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers LLP. His practice focuses on serious injury and complex insurance claims, including motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall injuries, long-term disability claims and insurance claims. Greg has extensive mediation and trial experience and has a reputation among his colleagues as a skillful negotiator.
Greg Neinstein

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