Health care statistics. (Bangor: 2013, rating, dentist)

[Submariner]

I read an interesting article today.

Out of 156,698 surgeries, In Maine in 2012:
2 people had the wrong body parts operated on,
14 had something left inside them after surgery,
36 died in a hospital setting of something they weren’t expected to die from.

Which is a decrease from 2011, when we had 2 wrong parts, 16 somethings and 61 unanticipated deaths.

Only 28 states collect this kind of data from Health Care profession. [which I think is rather odd]

Massachusetts had 324 incidents for 2012. Their data includes 4 “wrong patient surgeries”. Maine has not had any “wrong patient surgery” over the nine years.


State releases latest tally of deaths, items left behind during surgery — State — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine

So I think that Maine Healthcare is getting 'better', and already appears to be better than Mass offers.

[slyfox2]

Nobody in Maine wants to be like Massawhatsitts.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

When I had my shoulder rebuilt I shaved that shoulder the morning of surgery. I wrote on the good shoulder in indelible marker, OTHER SIDE with a big arrow toward the bad shoulder. The OR staff cracked up. They said they were going to give me something to relax me. I told them not to bother. I was as relaxed as it gets. They gave me something in the IV and I listened to them talking. The surgery began. They were wondering how I could have caused this injury so I told them I had helped a young couple set the ridge pole on their log home. They ran out of height before I did and just as I leaned to the right my shoulder fell apart.

The OR staff thought I was out like a light. They were flabbergasted that they were operating on somebody who could talk about it. The surgeon said, "Can't you feel that?" I told them I could feel pulling and tugging, but no pain. I guess that freaked them out so that's the last thing I remember until I was in recovery. It was a long surgery because along with the full tear, the end of my collar bone broke off. They put it all back together and I have full range of motion.

I'm a big fan of orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists. My surgeon was Skip McDonald out of Dover Foxcroft and my physical therapist was Deb Six who now works in Bangor. I highly recommend them both.

[cebdark]

Maine is bigger on patient satisfaction and facilities tend to police themselves better IMO, so I'm not surprised at the stats.

[flycessna]

Had hand surgery a few years back and every other person who I spoke with asked me over and over again what where ect.. hey mistakes happen but when its surgery people remember.. A lady went in for cataract surgery and I couldn't miss the big arrow drawn on here face! Only the words "THIS ONE" were missing

[mainebrokerman]

most of my healtcare issues,,the little ive had ,,,,was professional,,
tho one comical story comes to mind,,(wasnt comical to him)
it was an old timer i was working with 30 yrs ago...said he had a very bad tooth-ache and had to leave for the dentist,,,
the same dentist he had for 25 yrs,,,,,well, the dentist pulled the wrong tooth..
it wasnt funny,,,but from that point on,,,if i needed a tooth pulled,,i always pointed the tooth out to him-which he seemed a bit insulted,, "of course i know what tooth it is!!"

[bangorme]

My complaint about the story was the the doctors and the hospitals were not revealed to the public. So, really, what good is it?

[Coaster]

That's an error rate of .00033, or 33 out of every 100,000 surgeries. That's astonishingly low. Even if they all happened in the same hospital, it's pretty good odds.

[bangorme]

Originally Posted by Coaster

That's an error rate of .00033, or 33 out of every 100,000 surgeries. That's astonishingly low. Even if they all happened in the same hospital, it's pretty good odds.

No, if they happened all at one hospital, or with one doctor, that would be very significant.

[namder1]

I think all these stats will go out the window if obamacare ever arrives..........