By modifying its automated case management system to identify patients with barriers to discharge, enabling the clinical staff to set priorities, Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore was able to decrease the percentage of denied days by more than 50% in just six months.
In much the way 401k investment plans forever changed retirement benefits and led to the realignment of the financial industry in the 1980s, a concept called consumer-directed health care (CDH) appears poised to transform the way health care is delivered.
A proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to include nearly half of the existing diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) covered by the post-acute care transfer rule will cut Medicare payments to hospitals by $880 million a year, or approximately 1.1% of Medicare payments, according to the Chicago-based American Hospital Association (AHA).
