Five Rhode Island hospitals operated by Lifespan are under investigation for allegedly instructing 2,000 discharged patients to take the wrong forms of medications, reported the Associated Press yesterday. Although there are no reports that patients were harmed, state health officials are looking into whether Newport Hospital, Miriam Hospital, Bradley Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, and Hasbro Children's Hospital mixed up prescribed time-release medications with regular medications. Time-release meds are typically taken once a day versus regular forms taken multiple times a day.
Lifespan said a software error may be to blame, which generated medication instructions for the discharged patients. The hospital operator has contacted 90 percent of the affected patients and said it corrected many of their prescriptions. Lifespan also said emergency room and outpatients were not affected by the problem.
Lifespan, which anticipates contacting all affected patients by today, is urging those patients to contact their primary care provider to review medication instructions at no cost to the patient and said it will provide a hospital visit at no cost if they do not have a primary care provider.
"We apologize to patients and their families for any inconvenience or problems caused by this issue," Lifespan said in a statement.
The event has captured the attention of Sen. Jamie Doyle (D-R.I.) who is calling for an independent review of all Lifespan hospitals and a review of the Rhode Island Department of Health, reports WPRI today.
"I just don't feel comfortable right now with some of the things that are coming out of there," Doyle said. "I really don't want to point fingers in any direction, but what we need to do is we need answers."
State Health Director Dr. Michael Fine said in a statement that the Lifespan mistakes represent risk in the handoff process.
"This incident is a prime example of the risks involved in care transitions for hospital patients, especially since (primary care physicians) now rarely attend their own patients in the hospital," Fine said, reports NBC 10 News. "This underscores the need for a more robust team approach for care transitions."
For more information:
- read the AP article
- here's the Lifespan press release
- here's the WPRI report
- read the NBC 10 article
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