DMC Harper University Hospital no longer faces loss of millions of dollars of Medicare funding after it passed an infection-control inspection on April 3.
The for-profit hospital had faced the possibility of losing participation in the federally funded insurance program by April 15, according to the CMS.
"The revisit survey revealed that your hospital is now in compliance with the Conditions of Participation," the CMS said in an April 10 letter to DMC. "Therefore, we are rescinding our decision to terminate your participation in the Medicare program."
The CMS said Harper Hospital has met other Medicare requirements based upon accreditation by the Joint Commission. The CMS also said the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, which conducts inspections for the CMS, will stop monitoring surveys at Harper.
"At the conclusion of a survey completed last week, surveyors from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) informed Harper University Hospital that its action plan had been effectively implemented, resolving all issues identified in a prior survey," DMC spokeswoman Tonita Cheatham said in a written statement. "We are pleased to have demonstrated to the surveyors that our actions were effective, and we remain committed to continuous quality improvement across the DMC and to maintaining the confidence of our community."
LARA's inspection last fall at Harper found flying insects in an intensive care unit, improperly attired surgical personnel and various incidents of dirty surgical instruments and personnel failing to follow policies.
Last October, LARA spent three days inspecting several DMC hospitals after Crain's reported allegations by doctors and employees of ongoing problems with dirty instruments and other facility, quality and staffing issues.
In the fall of 2016, the CMS also cited DMC hospitals for failing to comply with infection-control standards. The CMS later accepted DMC's corrective action plans, but returned early in 2017 to address another complaint.
DMC said it corrected its infection-control problems when it hired additional staff, boosted management and created a separate sterile processing unit at DMC Children's Hospital of Michigan in January 2018.
DMC is owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., one of the nation's largest investor-owned hospital chains.
Another DMC hospital cited by the CMS for Medicare rules violations is Sinai-Grace Hospital, which has until Aug. 31 to correct quality problems found in a Jan. 9 inspection.
DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital, which also was slated to be terminated from Medicare for various quality violations based on a inspection last November, was informed on March 19 that it is in compliance with Medicare conditions of participation in the program after reinspections in February and March.
A CMS official said hospitals that remain out of compliance are terminated from the Medicare program. Such terminations are rare but do happen, and hospitals are given substantial chances to fix problems before being cut off.
Termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which could cost the hospital up to 60% of its revenue, could potentially cost DMC hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and call into question care for Detroit patients.
"DMC Harper Hospital cleared by Medicare for quality problems" originally appeared in Crain's Detroit Business.
