Hospital Case Management articles from February 2005

Hospital Case Management archives from February 2005

Take care to give patients a choice of needed post-discharge services: final CMS rule sets penalties for noncompliance.
February 1, 2005... Your hospital could lose its Medicare or Medicaid certification if you don't take care to ensure that patients who need home health services or a referral to skilled nursing facilities are given a choice of providers and not just steered to...

Directory helps patients make informed choices: hospital compiled information on all providers.
February 1, 2005... When patients at Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, NC, need post-discharge services, they can look for information about the providers they are considering in the hospital's Western North Carolina Provider Directory, a binder compiled...

Medically complex cases present a challenge: system helps with those who are hard to place.
February 1, 2005... Today's discharge planners face the challenge of finding post-acute services for patients who, thanks to improvement treatments and technology, survive more catastrophic illnesses and injuries than ever before. However, many of these...

Certification helps CMs meet today's challenges: skills, knowledge, competency enhanced.(Guest Column)
February 1, 2005... Hospital-based case managers are facing mounting challenges today, from the aging of the population and the rise in chronic health conditions to the escalating cost of health care services and advancements in medical technologies. They are...

Self-determination form documents patient choices: form includes information in triplicate.(Critical Path Network)
February 1, 2005... When patients leave St. Vincent's Medical Center in Jacksonville, FL, with referrals for post-discharge services, they take home a copy of the hospital's self-determination referral form, with information details about which providers they...

Care costs, demand increased in 2003.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Demand for inpatient and outpatient care continued to grow in 2003, as did the costs of providing that care, according to the latest American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey. Hospital expenses per adjusted admission grew by 6%,...

AHRQ tool offers help to assess hospital safety.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as unveiled a new tool to help hospitals evaluate their progress in creating a culture of safety. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture helps hospitals assess employees' attitudes about...

CMS releases paper on HIPAA security rule.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services releases paper on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the first in a series of seven papers intended to give guidance on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) security rule. Each paper will focus on a...

System addresses ability to transition in emergencies: tool for disaster preparedness, ED overcrowding.(Access management: quarterly)
February 1, 2005... A scoring system for assessing which patients are most ready to be discharged from the hospital can be an important emergency preparedness tool, suggests Pat Orchard, CCM, CHE, director of health services for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of...

CE questions.
February 1, 2005... Note: Question 4 replaces the last question from the January 2005 issue, which referred to information not contained in the issue. 4. The pediatric asthma case management team at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, MI, consists of Jan Roberts,...