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The wheels appear to have come off my DaVita facility; in 8 years of dialysis I have never seen this low of quality of care. I am not referring to simple things like bad sticks or someone having a bad day; I am talking about core competencies like incorrect medication administration, incorrect record keeping, and missing lab shipment dates. It is absolutely scary and I encourage anyone who might be in this position to become 100% engaged in their treatments.
For example, over the last 4 months’ time I was given another patients meds, have been given incorrect dosage of Heparin, and have been double dosed with Hectorol. In each of these cases I was able to catch these errors and prevent harm. Just this morning, the tech forgot to administer both the Heparin in my arm and the machine. When I noticed the that he had started the machine without the Heparin I called him out on the issue and he addressed the mistake. (The machine would have eventually thrown and error without the Heparin.)
Incorrect record keeping is also a frequent issue. I check my weight and the amount of fluid to be removed every day (using portal) because I have had incorrect values entered that become part of my medical record. Due to DaVita policy, once the patient data has been entered into their database for longer than 24hours, it cannot be changed. So unless you check every day, and get them to fix their data entry mistakes, your medical record will forever be incorrect.
I understand that the medical industry in general has been under pressure over the last two years. But the turnover rate of the techs, nurses, and staff at my DaVita facility is over 90% in the last 6 months. The lack of familiarity and experience with patient history combined with DaVita’s emphasis on productivity and efficiency is, in my opinion, creating unsafe conditions. It should be obvious to anyone that having patient familiarity and experience is what allows techs and nurses to complete tasks effectively. Yet it appears that no additional time or bandwidth is supported when the turnover rate is exceedingly high; there is no time to double check meds or treatment parameters.
I implore patients to become involved in their own healthcare, it can save your life.
For example, over the last 4 months’ time I was given another patients meds, have been given incorrect dosage of Heparin, and have been double dosed with Hectorol. In each of these cases I was able to catch these errors and prevent harm. Just this morning, the tech forgot to administer both the Heparin in my arm and the machine. When I noticed the that he had started the machine without the Heparin I called him out on the issue and he addressed the mistake. (The machine would have eventually thrown and error without the Heparin.)
Incorrect record keeping is also a frequent issue. I check my weight and the amount of fluid to be removed every day (using portal) because I have had incorrect values entered that become part of my medical record. Due to DaVita policy, once the patient data has been entered into their database for longer than 24hours, it cannot be changed. So unless you check every day, and get them to fix their data entry mistakes, your medical record will forever be incorrect.
I understand that the medical industry in general has been under pressure over the last two years. But the turnover rate of the techs, nurses, and staff at my DaVita facility is over 90% in the last 6 months. The lack of familiarity and experience with patient history combined with DaVita’s emphasis on productivity and efficiency is, in my opinion, creating unsafe conditions. It should be obvious to anyone that having patient familiarity and experience is what allows techs and nurses to complete tasks effectively. Yet it appears that no additional time or bandwidth is supported when the turnover rate is exceedingly high; there is no time to double check meds or treatment parameters.
I implore patients to become involved in their own healthcare, it can save your life.
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