Hospital Case Management – October 1, 2003

October 1, 2003

• Program coordinates care, resources for medically complex children

  A typical day for Deb Jablonski, RN, CCM, may include going to visit a specialist with the family of a medically complex child; working with the inpatient case managers and treatment team at the hospital to coordinate the care of a hospitalized child; talking with a school therapist about the care a child needs; or communicating with the childs pediatrician.

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• Team assists families in getting help they need

  When a child is referred to the special needs program at the Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin, a multidisciplinary team assesses the case and decides where the family can get the help it needs. Childrens Hospital is a 222-bed tertiary care facility with multiple specialty clinics and a teaching hospital affiliated with Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

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• Follow-up system aims to improve patient safety

  A study by Irvine, CA-based Cogent Healthcare Inc. has confirmed what many case managers know instinctively: Following discharge from the hospital, many patients are confused about their medication, their discharge instructions, and when to follow up with their primary care physicians.

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• Make sure that you are culturally competent

  Case managers shouldnt wait for their hospitals to institute cultural competency initiatives. They should try to become more aware of their patients culture and beliefs on their own and make it a continuing process, asserts Joyce E. Vaughn, RN, CCM, a Louisville, KY-based case management consultant and former hospital case manager.

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• Critical Path Network: Cancer rehab improves function, quality of life

  The National Cancer Act of 1971 set cancer rehabilitation as a goal and provided money to develop training programs and research projects. Soon after, the Bethesda, MD-based National Cancer Institute identified four objectives for rehabilitation of cancer patients: psychosocial support, optimization of physical functioning, vocational counseling, and optimization of social functioning.

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• Critical Path Network: Patient satisfaction depends on staff morale

  If you want to improve your patient satisfaction ratings, dont start by looking at how happy your patients are. Start by looking at satisfaction levels among your staff.

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• Discharge Planning Advisor: Independent CMs face greater HIPAA challenge

  Whether as employees of a covered health care entity or independent business associates, case managers must ensure that they are in compliance with the privacy requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

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• Discharge Planning Advisor: CM, DP communications covered in HIPAA FAQs

  Ttwo frequently asked questions from the Department of Health and Human Services HIPAA web site that specifically address the types of communication that case managers and discharge planners engage in.

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• Discharge Planning Advisor: Enhance care by making CM part of Medicare

  Even with their dependence on health maintenance organizations (HMOs), many of the nations elderly suffer from a lack of coordinated care, are often confused about their treatment including proper use of medications and frequently end up in the hospital for lack of proper preventive measures.

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• Discharge Planning Advisor: How to determine ‘What’s a business associate?’

  Case managers sometimes are confused as to what constitutes a business associate as referred to in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), notes Cathy Kauffman-Nearhoof, RN, BSN, CCM, NMCC, CLNC, owner of Integrist Healthcare Consulting in Duncansville, PA.

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• Make diversity a part of daily operations

  At SSM Rehab in St. Louis, diversity has become part of the institutional culture. Staff have successfully built diversity into its ongoing operations rather than instituting one program that would meet federal and industry guidelines, says Kurt Delabar, director of human resources.

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• CCMC seeks feedback on revised code of conduct

  The Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC) in Rolling Meadows, IL, is revising its Code of Professional Conduct for case managers and is seeking feedback on the draft revision from professionals in the case management field, including certified and noncertified individuals.

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