Hospital Case Management 2003-07-01

Physician-aligned case management improves efficiency and cuts LOS

INTEGRIS Rural Health (IRH), based in Oklahoma City, has been able to cut its systemwide average length of stay by at least a day across its eight-hospital system by implementing a physician-aligned model of case management.

CM model eliminates piecemeal patient care

Before INTEGRIS Rural Health (IRH) implemented its physician-aligned model of case management, the process was piecemeal throughout the eight-hospital system.

Understand patient care from physician perspective

When Carol Reeder, RN, BSN, MSA, first goes into a hospital to consult on setting up a physician-aligned case management model, she encourages case managers to try to understand what physicians have to deal with in their daily practice.

If info you need is in your system, can you find it?

Todays case management departments need access to information as quickly as possible, and that can be a challenge unless your hospitals information technology (IT) system is tailored to fit the needs of the department and someone knows how to retrieve the information thats needed, asserts Don Collins, owner of Clarity Report Development, a Paradise, CA, computer technology consulting firm.

Study shows QI helps heart attack patients

Combined results from three studies conducted in 33 Michigan hospitals show its possible to improve the care provided to heart attack patients after admission by reminding physicians, nurses, and patients about proven therapies.

Discharge Planning Advisor: CHF readmissions decline as med needs addressed

A discovery that came out of a congestive heart failure (CHF) project led to a Medication Mission that is improving quality of life and reducing readmission rates for patients at St. Joseph Health Center in Warren, OH.

Discharge Planning Advisor: Follow-up calls improve discharge instructions

A process for making follow-up calls after new moms are discharged with their babies from Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA, has helped to improve discharge instructions at the health care facility.

Discharge Planning Advisor: Quick classes in CPR ensure safer discharge

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a good skill for every parent to learn, says Jennifer Bay, RN, BSN, the CPR coordinator for Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta.

Discharge Planning Advisor: JCAHO proposes standard on overcrowding in the ED

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has released a proposed leadership standard on emergency department (ED) overcrowding.

Critical Path Network: Diabetes QI program cuts complications by 60%

Quality improvement projects can be especially challenging if you try to implement them on a systemwide basis across many health care institutions, but a diabetes project in Iowa shows that it can be done if you give people the tools and let individual organizations decide how best to use them.

Critical Path Network: Project hinges on top quality hospital data

A quality improvement project in Dayton, OH, achieved a 36% drop in mortality from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among a group of hospitals cooperating on the effort, and participants say it could not have been done without high-quality data collection.

Critical Path Network: CMS releases proposed rule on inpatient payments

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed rule for inpatient Medicare payments for fiscal year 2004.

Patient Safety Alert Supplement

Hospital Case Management – July 1, 2003

July 1, 2003