Patient suicides thrust prevention into a harsh spotlight

A pair of patient suicides in the same room at the psychiatric unit of Tampa (FL) General Hospital July 21 and 23 implicated several EC concerns, including doors that allegedly allowed the patients to hang themselves.

The cases led the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to notify the hospital in mid-August that it was not in compliance with its Conditions of Participation (CoP). The move by CMS threatened Tampa General’s Medicare reimbursements, which accounted for $168 million, or more than 20%, of the facility’s patient revenues in 2007.