InvestigateTV+ Weekend: Lack of info about surgeries done on children
(InvestigateTV) — Parents can research a child’s doctor, a hospital’s reputation, even its ranking.
But as Joce Sterman discovered, key data about how many pediatric surgeries are performed is still hard to find.
Plus, millions of kids live in counties without a board-certified pediatrician, meaning long drives for families just to get to a doctor who specializes in treating kids.
Parents lack critical info about frequency of surgeries done on children
If you’re a parent whose child needs to be hospitalized or undergo surgery – you’d do anything to make sure they have the best care possible. But pulling back the curtain on pediatric hospitals to find their surgical volume stats, safety data, infection rates and other critical information is especially difficult.
With surgical volume, our national investigative team discovered there is virtually no public information available about how frequently certain procedures are done at specific facilities, even though experts tell us hospitals know these figures AND report them to the government.
And Leapfrog, a non-profit which asks hospitals nationwide to voluntarily supply information for surveys designed to increase transparency, says pediatric hospitals are specifically resistant to their efforts.
Nearly 4 million children live in U.S. counties without a pediatrician
Hospitals across the United States have sharply reduced their capacity to care for children over the past two decades, leaving rural communities farther from pediatric hospital care and straining the remaining providers, a new national study and our investigation found.
According to our analysis of data from the American Board of Pediatrics, around 43% of U.S. counties do not have a single board-certified pediatrician.
In this story, National Investigative Reporter Andy Pierrotti speaks with a mother who has to drive to another county for her child to see a pediatrician and looks at the numbers nationwide.
Drivers concerned about safety as rideshares being substituted for ambulances
As rideshares become a routine part of daily life, some drivers say the job can take an unexpected and dangerous turn.
In some cases, they tell us they’re being used to transport people with serious medical needs – without the training or equipment to do it safely.
Marius Payton in Nashville investigates why some rides are starting to look more like emergency transport.
How to score a five-star vacation on a three-star budget
Want to score a five-star vacation on a three-star budget?
Consumer Investigator Rachel DePompa is exploring the secrets to “shoulder season” in this Watching Your Wallet.
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