Accreditation commission awaits Danville Regional's next move.
Danville Register & Bee
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
DANVILLE - The Danville Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in Virginia to currently have a “preliminary denial of accreditation” status from the Joint Commission. Joint Commission spokeswoman Elizabeth Zhani answered a few questions about what this means Monday afternoon.
Question: What is the Joint Commission?
Answer: The Joint Commission is an independent not-for-profit organization that monitors care given at nearly 15,000 health care organizations in the United States. The group evaluates care at 97 hospitals in Virginia.
Q: What is a preliminary denial of accreditation?
A: A “preliminary denial of accreditation” status is one step above a full denial of accreditation. The commission gives this status to health care organizations it feels justified in denying its accreditation to, but it lets the organization appeal this ruling before the actual denial takes place.
Zhani said large hospitals like Danville Regional that fail to meet 17 or more standards of care during an evaluation are given this status. She said approximately 1 percent of the hospitals surveyed across the U.S. in 2006 received a “preliminary denial of accreditation.”
Q: When did all of this happen?
A: The Joint Commission sends surveyors to evaluate a hospital once every three years. It has sent teams to 23 Virginia hospitals since June 2006. Commission surveyors last visited Danville Regional on Feb. 13-16.
Danville Regional CEO Art Doloresco sent out a news release in March letting people know the hospital may receive a “preliminary denial of accreditation” following this visit. Zhani said the commission’s accreditation board reviewed the survey findings last week and signed off on the decision.
Q: What happens next?
A: Zhani said the hospital could appeal its “preliminary denial of accreditation” status to the commission’s review panel. She said the panel will look over the original survey results and “can deny the accreditation or make another decision” about the hospital’s status. Zhani expects this hearing to take place within the next month. No hospital official would return calls Monday for comment about their plans for the future.
Q: Why is this important?
A: State and federal governments use Joint Commission evaluations as a way to determine whether a health care organization qualifies for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. If a hospital loses its accreditation, the government will have to send its own team of investigators to evaluate the hospital before any decision becomes final.
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Accreditation is awarded to a health care organization that is in compliance with all standards at the time of the on-site survey or has successfully addressed requirements for improvement in an Evidence of Standards Compliance within 45 days following the survey.
Conditional Accreditation results when a health care organization fails to do one or both of the following: 1) Be in substantial compliance with the standards, usually determined by the number of not compliant standards that exceed established thresholds at the time of survey. The organization must remedy identified problem areas through preparation and submission of an ESC and a conditional follow-up survey. 2) Meet all requirements for the timely submission of data and information to The Joint Commission within 61 days of the due date(s).*
Preliminary Denial of Accreditation results when there is justification to deny accreditation to the organization as usually determined by the number of not compliant standards that exceed established thresholds at the time of survey. The decision is subject to appeal prior to the determination to deny accreditation; the appeal process may also result in a decision other than Denial of Accreditation.
Denial of Accreditation results when a health care organization does not permit the performance of any survey by The Joint Commission, or fails to meet requirements for the timely submission of data and information to The Joint Commission within 91 days of the due date(s).*
Provisional Accreditation results when a health care organization fails to do one or more of the following: 1) Successfully address all requirements for improvement in an ESC within 45 days following the survey. 2) Achieve an appropriate level of sustained compliance as determined by a Measure of Success result. 3) Meet all requirements for the timely submission of data and information to The Joint Commission within 31 days of the due date(s).*
But no matter how you look at it, I think "accredidation" is no longer an option (its been more than 45 days) and with this second ruling even more time will pass.
It looks to me like the BEST we could hope for is "provisional" or "conditional".
But then again with no information coming out who's to know.
Maybe the "BIG" news is we will soon be fully "accredited"
BTW once the final decision is rendered will it be 3 years before we could be inspected again in hopes of being accredited?
As I read this, we have 45 days from Friday to receive full accredidation IF we "successfully addressed requirements for improvement in an Evidence of Standards Compliance"
Or Conditional Accredidation IF "in substantial compliance with the standards, usually determined by the number of not compliant standards that exceed established thresholds at the time of survey. The organization must remedy identified problem areas through preparation and submission of an ESC and a conditional follow-up survey. 2) Meet all requirements for the timely submission of data and information to The Joint Commission within 61 days of the due date(s).*
This is such a disgrace. What my family and I NEED to know is what parts of this damned-fool hospital are substandard?
Is the CEO going to tell us?
Or is it none of our business.
And what the hell has happened to the Mayor's Committee---has it just vanished? We paid the guy $25,000 for being "troubled" and then he left?
This town is a dump from soup to nuts. No hospital. No information. No leadership. I wish I had the stuff to pack up and leave.
FED UP!
So what's new, FED UP?
First thing you do is to make sure you find a family doctor who will have alternatives to Danville Regional. No one should take innocent people there--that is, people who are not old enough or able to make their own decisions.
Second thing you do is to start getting your check-ups and elective medical care at one of the excellent alternatives we are blessed to have.
The third thing you do is to start looking for a job in a real town.
Quit griping and start doing something.
There's an old bit of wisdom that says the only people who want to be in Danville are people who have figured out how to suck the blood out of the lower classes. There's a great truth there.
Not only was it always true of the textile mills and tobacco companies and related industries, but look now at all the fast-food places where poor people can throw their money away in small pieces. And look at the huge presence of low-income sharks like Jackson-Hewitt Tax "Services" and pay-day loan scams. Look at the booming lottery business. All of these things are calculated to take away what little money poor people have.
My guess is that LifePoint thought they were going into a place where folks had no choices. They were right in a sense--but the people who have no choices do not have good insurance, etc.
And those folks who can make choices are fleeing for their very lives.
Thus, in a back-handed way, there's a cerain justice to what is happening to LifePoint.
I doubt if this makes you feel any better, but at least it is the truth.
I did not move to Danville to take advantage of poor people. I came because I was offered a job in a company I thought had some potential. I like my job, but my family is unhappy here and I think we will move on to a different sort of place when we can. I object to the sweeping statement about why I and others have come here. We came for what I think are the right reasons. We have not had ocassion to use the hospital, so that is not a facter. But a friend showed my wife this blog site, and it is a fascinating reflection of Danville. I realize you don't want posts except about the hospital, but I did want to take exception to the one about why we came to this city. Thank you.
Benefits of Joint Commission accreditation and certification:
"Strengthens community confidence in the quality and safety of care, treatment and services."
Let's see if this happens as a result of the survey at DRMC??
(Lifepoint)
To the commenter who came to Danville because of the right reasons:
Unless you got one of the jobs at the Institute reserved for the Bank Boys'
friends, then I suspect you were low-hung fruit to someone.
Has anyone heard whether we will know the areas in which DRMC failed in the JC. Some things were fixed. What did not get fixed?
I'm waiting for the BIG NEWS people were writing about on here last week. Not but three days left to this week?
I agree with the commnent about why I came to Danville. It was for what I percieved to be the right reasons and for the most part I was right. I can say, with a good deal of confidence, that the people who posts such negative comments about Danville are not the reason I came here. And if I leave, they will be a factor in why I did. By bad mouthing Danville as a whole, you are hurting yourself, your neighbors and the region as a whole. What good has come of you sitting here typing negative comments about Danville?
This place would be better off with you.
Damn right! Never forget that Danville is "A World Class Organization," according to the water tank.
The garbage trucks also remind us that Danville is a "A World Class Organization."
Hold on, I think your wrogn on garbge trucks. They say DANVILLE CAN!
Reminds me of what someone wrote on the inside of a toilet stall in the men's room near the hospital busness office. DANVILLE CAN'T.
I really love your web page. Going back has got tons of really useful info. to help moms and dads make right decisions. This is not criticism, but the card we were given at my bible group had the wrong internet address. It just has blog.com but it led us to it. I thought you might want to correct it. Thanks a mllion!
There are good things happening at DRMC but they just don't seem to make headlines.....on a positive note the laboratory at DRMC received a great inspection and a good score from the last CAP inspection.
We sure need some good news. If Lifepoint would resume advertising in the newspaper, then the paper would report it.
When is the Mayor's Commission Report due?
Jess Judy is in town. Is Art still around?
What is a CAP inspection? Is this something different from the Joint Commission or a part of it?
For those of us new to the blog and outside the DRMC organization would someone please briefly summarize who is Jess Judy?
DANVILLE) -- A CONSULTANT HAS ISSUED HIS FINAL REPORT TO THE CITIZENS' COMMISSION THAT HAS BEEN EXAMINING COMPLAINTS OF DANVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER (DRMC). KEITH PRYOR SAYS THERE IS A HIGH LEVEL OF DISCOMFORT BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND LIFEPOINT, INC., WHICH PURCHASED THE HOSPITAL TWO YEARS AGO. HE SAYS LIFEPOINT HAS EVEN ADMITTED THAT ITS TRANSITION LEADERSHIP WAS NOT AS EFFECTIVE AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. PRYOR SAYS TRUST, DIALOGUE AND LEADERSHIP ARE NEEDED FROM LIFEPOINT, THE COMMUNITY AND FROM LOCAL DOCTORS. THE COMMISSION WILL MEET THURSDAY TO CONTINUE FORMULATING A SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS. A REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL IS EXPECTED NEXT MONTH.
Is the consultant's Final Report secret from the public?
Jess Judy is a Suit from LifePoint Headquarters who has been in and out of here from the beginning. Art Doloresco, CEO at DRMC for the moment, is a hired hand from a group that does nothing but operate hospitals that are sort of in transition or trouble for one reason or another.
Jess Judy seems to have gotten along with people here much better than any of the others, mainly because he seems intelligent and has an engaging personal style that is starkly different from others LifePoint has sent. At least he doesn't slam doors in people's faces.
Folks seem to have come to expect some changes afoot when Jess Judy comes to town.
I heard the consultants report IS secret from the public. It must be highly negative for them to keep it secret.
It is secret if you are not smart enough to go to the following link and read it:
http://www.danville-va.gov/upload/images/City-TV%2020/Report%20to%20Commission.pdf
OMG! I just read Mr. Pryors reccomendation....I think I have selected a new career path. If we paid $25,000 for this I am amazed.
Basically he says we need Trust, leadership, and dialogue...the same things we have been saying on this blog for months. Has he not read this and reviewed the history of DRMC since Lifepoint?
No reccomendations of councils , meetings, or commitments from Lifepoint. At $25,000 a pop this dude is making a good living stating the obvious.
And to think he got paid $25,000 for this while the commission members put in many more hours for free! Since Lifepoint knew these things for months and chose NOT to try and build trust, provide leadership, or engage in dialogue, I say we go back to a former post and "vote with our money" until they wake up and CHOOSE to Earn our business.
Thank you, someone, for this great blog. You should get the word out. I just got a notice.
Okay, I read the Consultant's Report, and I agree there's not much there, but what else could be expected?
I do think it's useful that an outsider says we don't need anymore data--just plans for how to work with the data with have.
But one question: He refers in there to "the Foundation" and calls it "an important part of the equation" and that's all he says about it. What Foundation is he referring to, and what has it got to do with the hospital?
I just blogged you, but one other thing: Do you know if we are permitted to ask direct questions of the consultant, Mr. Pryor?
"The Foundation" includes the boys at the bank (the ones who sold our hosptal) and a few others. They control the $210,000,000 of procedes from the sale of the hospital.
You can see them at http://www.danvilleregionalfoundation.org/leadership.html
SuperSite!
My Mom works at Danville Regional and it has changed her into a different woman. I tried to get her to look at this and she would not and told me not to use our home computer to look at it. She would kill me for sending this. Whatever you are doing there, it is very, very bad on my Mom. She always loved working and now she wants to quit.
If it's any consulation, you are not alone. My spouse is the same way. It's a shame when you go from loving life and your job to dreading every morning. If my job plan works out we'll be checking out before the summers over.
Jess Judy is the president of the gateway division at lpnt. This is the division of hospitals that includes danville. jess is a kind man with integrity. I am sure he is beside himself with the occurrences here in danville. He can approve of the behavior of any of the leaders especially our interim CNO. She is the opposite if what I know him to be.
If you know of some of the things he said to the MD's and about the nurses....the above post is WAY off.
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