Hospital quick to notify patients of infection threat
Once administrators at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL, discovered that a nurse had exposed patients to serious infections by reusing disposable tubing and IV bags, the hospital acted quickly to notify those affected and arrange testing.
Broward General immediately sent letters in English, Spanish, and Creole via certified mail to all 1,851 patients and their referring physicians, informing them of the incident and providing the hotline number, web site and details on follow-up screenings. The hospital arranged to have the patients tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV at no cost to them through a local testing facility not owned or operated by Broward General.
As of Oct. 26, 2009, Broward General had confirmation from 1,159 patients that they had received the notification letter. Of those known to have received the letter, 869, or about 75%, had been tested. Test results were available for 722 patients, and hospital spokeswoman Cathy Meyer says some of those patients did test positive for the bloodborne diseases, but she declined to release details. Positive results do not necessarily mean the patient was infected at the hospital, she notes, because the community has significant rates of infection for those diseases.
A second certified letter was sent to patients who did not respond to the first letter. Patients who had questions were encouraged to call a 24-hour hotline, with after-hours calls to be returned during the next business day.
The community outreach, and the extensive media coverage in Florida and nationwide, resulted in significant use of the resources Broward General set up:
number of total calls to the toll-free hotline by Oct. 26, 2009: 2,401;
number of patients who requested and received follow-up calls from Broward General clinical staff: 1,656;
number of walk-in patient visits to Broward General's counseling center: 291;
Number of visitors (page views) to the chemical stress test patient notice web site: 5,364.
Once administrators at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL, discovered that a nurse had exposed patients to serious infections by reusing disposable tubing and IV bags, the hospital acted quickly to notify those affected and arrange testing.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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