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As they wait to learn the next steps in health care reform, case managers should start thinking about what they need to do to get ready for the future, says Beverly Cunningham, RN, MS, vice president, clinical performance improvement, Medical City Dallas Hospital.
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By implementing a series of patient flow initiatives over a 10-month period, UC Health University Hospital, a 693-bed academic medical center in Cincinnati, was able to decrease the average patient length of stay by 5.34 hours, giving the hospital the ability to serve 1,300 more patients each year.
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A series of initiatives at Central DuPage Hospital has helped decrease length of stay and improve patient flow, according to Corinne Haviley, RN, MS, associate chief nurse at the 313-bed hospital in Winfield, IL.
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It sounds fairly cut and dried: If an authorization isn't obtained from a payer, the claim will be denied. However, payer requirements are getting more and more complex and stringent.
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By dedicating a wing of the hospital to patients being cared for by hospitalists, St. Mary's Health Center in St. Louis has decreased the length of stay by 4% compared to a 2% reduction in the non-hospitalist unit, as well as improved patient satisfaction and decreased the 30-day readmission rate for patients on the hospitalist unit.
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Uncollectible funds, or "bad debt," is a problem your patient access department can't afford to ignore. With increasing numbers of self-pay, uninsured, and underinsured patients access managers should revamp processes sooner rather than later.
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As hospitals face cuts in reimbursement and patients who become insured under health care reform legislation seek care, moving patients safely and quickly through the continuum of care is going to become important, experts say.
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Improved communication, coordination, and collaboration among all members of the treatment team is the key to improving patient throughput, says Roxanne Tackett, RN, MBA, vice presidential of clinical services for Compirion Healthcare Solutions, a health care consulting firm with headquarters in Elk Grove, WI.
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Cuts in reimbursement and new reporting of quality measures contained in the proposed rule for the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) make it more important than ever for documentation to be accurate and complete, says Deborah Hale, CCS, president of Administrative Consultant Services LLC, a health care consulting firm based in Shawnee, OK.
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As a result of a joint initiative to improve bed capacity, Fort Sanders Regional Hospital and Parkwest Hospital in Tennessee reduced discharge delays, increased discharges between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. by 8%, and consequently reduced the amount of time patients in the emergency department wait for inpatient beds from 70 minutes to less than 30 minutes.
