Medicare patients have their say on LKMC

By JOHN L. GUERRA

Medicare patients gave their impression of their time at Lower Florida Keys Medical Center on a survey performed recently by the federal government. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems is a national survey that asks Medicare patients about their experiences during a recent hospital stay. It does not include non-Medicare patients.

Here are the results of that survey, which are at http://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare.

At Lower Florida Keys,

  • 74 percent of patients surveyed said nurses “always communicated well”
  • 67 percent of patients said they always received help as soon as they wanted
  • 72 percent of patients surveyed said their pain was always well-controlled
  • 64 percent of the patients said their rooms and bathrooms were always clean
  • Just more than half — 53 percent — gave the hospital a 9 or 10 out of a possible 10
  • 56 percent said they’d recommend the hospital to others
  • 80 percent said their doctors always communicated well
  • Just more than half — 51 percent of patients — said the area around their rooms were quiet

The site also compares LKMC’s death rate from heart attacks and other events with the national average for hospitals of its size and type. These also only include Medicare patients.

  • The death rate for heart attacks at the hospital is “no different than the U.S. National Rate,” or around 15.2 percent.
  • Its rate of readmission for heart failure patients is “no different than the U.S. National Rate,” or around 23 percent.
  • The death rate for pneumonia patients also is “no different than the U.S. National Rate,” or around 11.9 percent.

Emergency room performance:

  • Once a doctor has decided to admit patients, the patients had to wait an average of 55 minutes before being sent to their inpatient rooms. The national average is 97 minutes.
  • Patients spent an average of 130 minutes in the emergency room before being sent home. The national average is 137 minutes.
  • 50 percent of patients who came to the emergency department with stroke symptoms received brain scan results within 45 minutes of arrival. Nationally, 51 percent of emergency room patients received brain scans within 45 minutes.
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