Hospital Case Management articles from February 2003

Hospital Case Management archives from February 2003

SSM's CARE PATHWAYS[R] boost patient compliance, lower readmission rates: physician-as-champion approach encourages buy-in.
February 1, 2003... St. Louis-based SSM Health Care (SSMHC), a not-for-profit health system, has instituted a series of case management CARE PATHWAYS that have improved outcomes in several initiatives over the past five years. Results of the programs are shared...

Hospital achieves 90% compliance with pathways: facility wins Ernest A. Codman Award.
February 1, 2003... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, recently presented the Ernest A. Codman Award, which recognizes excellence in the use of outcomes measurement by health care organizations to...

Pathways to success: standardizing care throughout a diverse health care system: CareMaps allow targeting of improvement efforts. (Critical Path Network[TM]).
February 1, 2003... How to establish and maintain a high standard of care, promote consistency across 18 diverse health care facilities, and develop a culture of quality throughout the system was the challenge that confronted the North Shore Long Island Jewish...

Demand for beds expected to increase.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Bed management likely will become an even more critical issue for access managers, with demand for hospital beds expected to increase by as much as 46% in the next 25 years. A study published recently by Solucient, a health care business...

Final OPPS rule increases spending.(outpatient prospective payment system )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The 1,000-page final outpatient prospective payment system rule, which took effect in January, provides the congressionally mandated inflationary update and increases overall spending but still pays hospitals only 83 cents for every dollar...

Emergency care crisis indicated by AZ survey.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A statewide survey of recent emergency department (ED) visitors sponsored by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association points to an emerging crisis in the availability of and access to emergency treatment in the state. The public...

HHS issues final report on regulatory reform.(Department of Health and Human Services )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The final report of the Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform features 255 recommendations to improve care delivery by reducing the regulatory burden on health care providers. The recommendations...

CMS proposes tracking hospital referrals to HHAs.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, home health agencies)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Baltimore-based Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule to require the collection of information on hospital referrals to home health agencies and other entities with which the hospital has a financial interest....

Providers customize form for giving notice of rights: length varies, depending on wording. (Access Management Quarterly).
February 1, 2003... Notifying patients of their privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is one of the tasks that fall most squarely onto the shoulders of access management. The final HIPAA privacy rule allows...

Mind your EMTALA signage, expert cautions: don't overlook placement of important signs. (Access Management Quarterly).(Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act)
February 1, 2003... A number of hospitals have been cited in the past few months for lack of signs notifying patients of their rights under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), according to Stephen Frew, JD, a longtime specialist in EMTALA...

Hospital slashes waits with bedside registration: `30 minutes or less' ... or free theater tickets. (Access Management Quarterly).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn, MI, is using the slogan "we're an emergency room, not a waiting room," and is backing up its claim with an offer of free theater tickets to patients who wait more than 30 minutes. The...

HIPAA privacy regulation sparks varied solutions: think `reasonable, good faith'. (Access Management Quarterly).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Hospitals are running the gamut of possible solutions as they struggle to interpret the provisions of the HIPAA privacy rule, says Tony Mogavero, director of physician services for St. Petersburg, FL-based John Putnam International, a company...

CE questions.
February 1, 2003... 5. St. Louis-based SSM Health Care was the first health care organization to win what national award? A. Ernest A. Codman Award B. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award C. AHIMA Triumph Award D. NPSF Patient Safety...

Using data management for CM populations: define the population and establish a baseline. (Access Management Quarterly).
February 1, 2003... Many case management departments are taking a new approach in terms of how they utilize case managers for outcome evaluation and process metrics. According to Vicky Mahn-DiNicola, RN, MS, vice president of ACS MIDAS+ in Tucson, AZ, many case...