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The Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC) in Rolling Meadows, IL, has announced changes to the eligibility criteria for the popular Certified Case Manager (CCM) credential. The changes could open the door for more hospital-based case managers to sit for the CCM exam.
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Advancing technology continues to reshape the way acute-care case management is practiced. One example of that is the growing trend toward automation. However, early experience shows that technology is no guarantee for physician buy-in at the front end, much less patient compliance at the back end.
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The Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is significantly revamping its accreditation process to answer its critics and sharpen the focus of its accreditation process.
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The 2002 version of the Little Rock, AR-based Case Management Society of Americas (CMSA) standards of practice is designed to reflect the role of the case manager in the changing health care system.
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Do you staff your emergency department (ED) based solely on ratios? Do you use staffing productivity measures that only address paid nursing hours per patient visit? These methods are not effective in the ED and actually can endanger patients, warn staffing experts, who point to a growing trend toward state-mandated ratios for nursing staff.
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Accurate documentation always has been important but it can have an even bigger impact on reimbursement with the new MS-DRG system, according to Deborah Hale, CSS, president of Administrative Consultant Services Inc., a health care consulting firm based in Shawnee, OK.
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Adapting to the sweeping changes in reimbursement mandated by the new MS-DRG system may be like suddenly having to drive on the left-hand side of the road, says Bert Amison, managing director for health care advisory services at KPMG.
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Faced with patients waiting for a bed for hours in the emergency department and an increase in time on ED diversion, Southern Ocean County Hospital in Manahawkin, NJ, began a hospital-wide initiative to improve throughput.
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Despite fears that issuing the new Important Message from Medicare regulations would result in a spate of patients appealing their discharge, hospital case managers report that appeals have not increased and that the requirement for issuing the notice within 48 hours of discharge actually helps staff focus on the discharge plan.
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The adoption of the new MS-DRG system, coupled with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) move to cost-based relative weights is likely to have a significant financial impact on hospitals, says Deborah Hale, CSS, president of Administrative Consultant Services Inc., a health care consulting firm based in Shawnee, OK.
