Hospital Case Management – August 1, 2006
August 1, 2006
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Whether it's transportation or post-acute care, rural CMs rise to the challenge
Case managers in rural hospitals have to think outside the box and find creative solutions to problems that their big city counterparts rarely face. -
CMS proposes sweeping changes in hospital payment structure
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed sweeping changes to the payment structure for hospitals, including the first significant revision of the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) since it was implemented in 1983. -
DP to fundraising: Rural case managers do it all
A case manager in a rural setting often is responsible for what it takes an entire case management department to do in a big city hospital. -
Reorganization helps improve reimbursement
In the first year after reorganizing the case management department, Lake Granbury (TX) Medical Center, a 59-bed facility, substantially increased reimbursement by improving documentation and saved $35,000 by putting case managers in charge of getting Medicaid forms signed, rather than relying on an outside vendor. -
Documentation program nets hospital $1 million
A documentation improvement program in which care managers and coders work as a team resulted in an increase in revenue of more than $1 million in 2005 for United Health Service Hospital in Johnson City, NY. -
Critical Path Network: Hospitals getting more RFIs in 2006: What problems are surveyors finding?
Since the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' (JCAHO) unannounced survey process began in January, the average number of requirements for improvement (RFIs) given to hospitals has increased to 6.9 as of April 2006, compared with 5.8 in 2005. -
Critical Path Network: IC group pushes for mandatory flu shots
Voluntary annual influenza immunization programs that use educational efforts and other incentives to vaccinate health care workers have been an abject failure, a leading proponent of mandatory flu shots said recently in Tampa at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). -
Initiative focuses on at-risk pregnant women, moms
An initiative to improve the health of pregnant women and their infants and toddlers has resulted in a drop in the infant mortality rate for Crozer-Keystone Health System. -
JCAHO creates flu immunization standard
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has approved a new infection control standard that requires accredited organizations to offer influenza vaccinations to staff, which includes volunteers, and licensed independent practitioners with close patient contact.