Hospital Case Management 2007-11-01

Notify patients of financial responsibility if they don't meet Medicare criteria

Changes in the notifications that hospitals must give Medicare patients about their pending discharge are making discharge planning and careful documentation more important than ever before.

Avoid misinterpreting HIPAA regulations

While her husband was sleeping, after a medical procedure, Elizabeth Hogue, Esq., picked up his chart, which was lying on a table in his hospital room.

Guest Column: Coordinating Important Message notifications

On Monday, July 2, 2007, a Medicare patient in a metropolitan hospital, whom we'll call Mrs. Jones, was notified by her physician that she was to be discharged the next day.

Tips for handling Medicare discharge appeals

New rules and guidelines for Medicare Discharge Plan Appeals known officially as the "Important Message from Medicare about Your Rights" (IM) require hospitals to respond to appeals at any time, including weekends and holidays.

Critcal Path Network: Six Sigma project slashes LOS for SNF discharges

The length of stay for patients being discharged to skilled nursing facilities from St. Joseph's Hospital progressive ventilator care unit dropped by 7.5 days (a 47% reduction) following a Six Sigma pilot project that focused on better ambulation of patients, earlier screening for potential skilled nursing admissions, and timely discharge.

Critcal Path Network: Educating ED staff assures admission criteria

By educating emergency department supervisors on admissions criteria and community resources, Weatherford Regional Medical Center in Weatherford, TX, has managed to eliminate most social admissions to the hospital and ensure that patients who are admitted meet admission criteria.

Access Management Quarterly: Employee education big part in initiative's success

Putting the "know" before the "why" for patient access employees was the focus at Stevens Hospital in Edmonds, WA, during implementation of its procedure for distributing the revised "Important Message From Medicare," says Evita Armijo, patient access manager.

Access Management Quarterly: Who should you charge with charge capture?

When it comes to the crucial arena of charge capture making sure that providers are paid at the appropriate level for all services rendered it's all about "the right charges and the right resource putting the charges in," says Gala Prabhu, a New York City-based senior manager for Accenture.

Access Management Quarterly: New CMS 'error' rule has access implications

A recent announcement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that it will no longer pay for care required because of hospital error has implications for patient access.

Access Management Quarterly: Cell phones to the rescue when weather woes hit

Cell phones replaced land-based pagers at Richland Hospital in Richland Center, WI, when the area was hit by severe storms and flooding in late August.

2007 Salary Survey Results: Case managers facing increased caseloads, paperwork documentation with less direct patient care responsibilities

Today's case managers report that they are paid more but they're working longer hours and being asked to do more documentation and paperwork.

Hospital Case Management – November 1, 2007

November 1, 2007