UMC gets chance to improve
After making substantial administrative improvements to its kidney transplant program in recent weeks, University Medical Center has been given an additional six months to demonstrate it can provide quality care to Nevadans awaiting transplants, officials announced Wednesday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, has given UMC's transplant program until June 8 to meet federal standards or it will be decertified. It is the final extension UMC will be given, according to CMS documents.
"This is finally some positive news for us. We basically negotiated with them (CMS) a performance improvement plan,'' said UMC's Chief Operating Officer Brian Brannman. "They essentially extended the termination until June, which allows us to restart the program so that they can evaluate it and we can demonstrate the positive changes we've made since March.''
Brannman said UMC has added administrative staff to its transplant program and it has contracted with four surgeons from the University of Utah's Transplant Program.
Under the one-year, nearly $1 million contract with UMC, the University of Utah Transplant Program will provide four surgeons to come to Las Vegas on a rotating basis to perform kidney transplants.
The surgeons, Brannman said, will rotate in on a weekly basis and provide 24-hour service as needed until the hospital is able to recruit its own transplant surgeons.
Dr. John Sorenson, Utah's surgical director, will start on Monday, Brannman said.
"We are hoping to be able to start doing transplants by the end of next week,'' Brannman said.
UMC's transplant program has been inactive since Sept. 10 because its main transplant surgeon became ill, officials have said. Patients who were awaiting kidney transplants were notified of the hospital's voluntary suspension of the program in early September.
Shortly after the voluntary suspension, the program was hit with another problem when CMS officials sent notification that it would be revoking its certification Dec. 3 because of certain deficiencies. However, Nevada's congressional delegation helped UMC get an extension to Jan. 8 to make improvements.
Under that extension, UMC has to explain its surgical capabilities, develop an effective internal quality assessment and performance improvement program, and describe its administrative and surgical leadership.
The hospital's internal quality assessment and performance improvement program is required to regularly review patient survival rates, re-admissions and patient's complications. It also must demonstrate it is ensuring donor and recipient blood types match.
On Nov. 10 and 12, UMC provided CMS with additional information that indicated "substantial systems improvements.''
Because UMC has committed to making further improvements, CMS agreed to another extension. Under this new extension agreement, CMS will authorize an unannounced survey prior to June 8 to determine if the program is in substantial compliance, and reserves the right to immediately terminate the UMC program's participation in Medicare if it is still found in noncompliance.
Brannman said he is confident UMC's transplant program will continue.
"We know this is something we can do to provide a service that isn't available in this state,'' he said.
Since individuals needing kidney transplants qualify for Medicare the hospital will get reimbursed for those services, Brannman said. And given the volume of patients UMC anticipates, those reimbursements should cover the costs of the contract with the University of Utah.
Contact reporter Annette Wells at awells @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.
