Hospital Case Management – October 1, 2009
October 1, 2009
View Issues
-
Case management in the ED isn't a 'luxury' anymore, consultant says
In today's health care environment, hospitals are challenged on all fronts. The Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) are carefully scrutinizing hospital records, looking for inappropriate admissions, incorrect level of care, and inaccurate coding in the charts of Medicare patients. -
CMS postpones payment reduction in 2010 IPPS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted hospitals a temporary reprieve from a reduction in Medicare payments. -
Compile data to make the case for ED CMs
If you want to convince your hospital administration to approve case managers in the emergency department, you have to put together a plan that outlines why doing so would be in the hospital's best interest, suggests Toni Cesta, RN, PhD, FAAN, senior vice president, operational efficiency and capacity management at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, and health care consultant and partner in Case Management Concepts LLC. -
Critical Path Network: Coordinating care throughout continuum keeps patients out of hospital, emergency department
By providing care coordination throughout the continuum for patients with multiple chronic conditions, the Sacramento Sierra Region of Sutter Health has significantly decreased emergency department visits and hospitalizations. -
Critical Path Network: The secret to improved throughput? Communicate
Increased communication among the multidisciplinary patient care team has increased patient throughput at Duke University Hospital, a 924-bed acute care facility in Durham, NC. -
Anticipated discharge date improves throughput
By assigning an anticipated date of discharge to every patient within 24 hours of admission, the clinical resources management staff at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, FL, have been able to shave three hours off the hospital's average discharge time, freeing up beds and dramatically decreasing the amount of time patients wait for a bed in the emergency department. -
Mentoring program enhances CM training
A mentoring program for staff members who have already completed orientation is seen as a key strategy in the programs of Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Charlotte, NC, which recently was named the winner of the 2009 Franklin Award of Distinction by The Joint Commission and the American Case Management Association. -
With HIN1 vaccine shortage expected, highest-risk groups go to front of line
With a vaccine shortage projected for novel H1N1 influenza A, only the highest priority groups are likely to be offered the shot when initial lots are cleared for distribution this fall.