Hospital Case Management – February 1, 2005
February 1, 2005
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Take care to give patients a choice of needed post-discharge services
Your hospital could lose its Medicare or Medicaid certification if you dont take care to ensure that patients who need home health services or a referral to skilled nursing facilities are given a choice of providers and not just steered to those in which your facility has an interest. -
Directory helps patients make informed choices
When patients at Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, NC, need post-discharge services, they can look for information about the providers they are considering in the hospitals Western North Carolina Provider Directory, a binder compiled by the case management staff and filled with information on home health services, skilled nursing facilities, and durable medical equipment providers. -
Medically complex cases present a challenge
Todays discharge planners face the challenge of finding post-acute services for patients who, thanks to improvement treatments and technology, survive more catastrophic illnesses and injuries than ever before. However, many of these patients are medically stable and need to go to a lower level of care. Finding a facility that will take clinically complex patients often is difficult for hospital discharge planners. -
Guest Column: Certification helps CMs meet today’s challenges
Hospital-based case managers are facing mounting challenges today, from the aging of the population and the rise in chronic health conditions to the escalating cost of health care services and advancements in medical technologies. They are especially pressured to ensure that clients have access to cost-effective, appropriate, timely, safe, and efficient health care services. -
Critical Path Network: Self-determination form documents patient choices
When patients leave St. Vincents Medical Center in Jacksonville, FL, with referrals for post-discharge services, they take home a copy of the hospitals self-determination referral form, with information details about which providers they chose on the front and the list from which they made their choices on the back. -
News Briefs
Care costs, demand increased in 2003; AHRQ tool offers help to assess hospital safety; CMS releases paper on HIPAA security rule -
Access Management Quarterly: System addresses ability to transition in emergencies
A scoring system for assessing which patients are most ready to be discharged from the hospital can be an important emergency preparedness tool, suggests Pat Orchard, CCM, CHE, director of health services for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, based in Mount Laurel.