Hospital Case Management articles from January 2003

Hospital Case Management archives from January 2003

Old hat or cutting edge? The state of the art of clinical pathways: interdisciplinary approach important for modern pathways.
January 1, 2003... Every year, Hospital Case Management's reader survey asks case managers what they like most and least about the newsletter. And every year, readers variously compliment and criticize us for the extent to which we cover clinical pathways. ...

Comparative performance data can be change agent: identify and correct `near fatal flaws'.
January 1, 2003... One of the major challenges facing case managers is what to consider when selecting comparative performance data. But that is just the first of several questions that must be addressed, says Patrice Spath, BA, RHIT, a consultant in health care...

CMSA overhauls case management standards; standards reflect patient-centered approach.(Case Management Society of America)
January 1, 2003... The Case Management Society of America (CMSA) in Little Rock, AR, has revised its Standards of Practice to reflect changes in the health care system and the evolving role of case managers within that system. (See Hospital Case Management, Dec....

`Hands-on' application tracks nursing care, results: standardized nomenclatures aid benchmarking. (Critical Path Network[TM]).
January 1, 2003... A software application developed by the University of Michigan School of Nursing in Ann Arbor offers the promise of providing a means to collect comparable data for nursing care in the areas of diagnosis, intervention, and outcomes, resulting...

Hospital web sites gain in popularity. (Critical Path Network[TM]).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The likelihood of a hospital having a web site grew from roughly six in 10 in 2000 to seven in 10 during 2001, according to the Chicago-based American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals. Survey staffers compiled the...

IOM to study alternative, complementary medicine. (Critical Path Network[TM]).(Institute of Medicine)
January 1, 2003... A National Center for Complementary and alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and 16 Federal cosponsors have unveiled plans for an Institute of Medicine (IOM) study of the scientific and policy implications of the use of complementary and alternative...

CE questions.
January 1, 2003... After reading each issue of Hospital Case Management, the nurse will be able to do the following: * identify particular clinical, administrative, or regulatory issues related to the profession of case management; * describe how those...

`Everybody wins' as CM, home health join forces: looming JCAHO survey prompts affiliation. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]: the update for improving continuity of care).(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
January 1, 2003... A couple of years ago, Lisa Zerull, RN, MS, the force behind the dramatically successful community nurse case management (CNCM) program at Valley Health System in Winchester, VA, faced a new challenge: She was informed by the Joint Commission...

Solutions needed for prescription drug problem. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]: the update for improving continuity of care).
January 1, 2003... Making sure patients without an insurance plan for prescription drugs get the medications they need is an increasing challenge, case managers and discharge planners tell Discharge Planning Advisor. Faced with a high-cost list of prescribed...

Final outpatient PPS rule increases spending. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]: the update for improving continuity of care).(prospective payment system )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The 1,000-page final outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rule, which takes effect this month, provides the congressionally mandated inflationary update and increases overall spending, but still pays hospitals only 83 cents for every...

Patient records linked as part of warning system. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]: the update for improving continuity of care).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Twenty million ambulatory care patient records will be connected as part of an early warning system for terrorism-related illness outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $1.2 million to the Harvard...

How to know when you're facing an ethical dilemma: consult supervisor, peers, CCMC for assistance. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]: the update for improving continuity of care).(Commission for Case Manager Certification)
January 1, 2003... When you're confronted with an issue that just doesn't feel right, ask yourself: Am I truly doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason? If the answer is yes, you're probably making an ethical decision, says Mindy Owen,...

HIPAA privacy regulation sparks varied solutions: think `reasonable, good faith'. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]: the update for improving continuity of care).(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Hospitals are running the gamut of possible solutions as they struggle to interpret the provisions of the the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule, says Tony Mogavero, director of physician services for St....

CMS offers database for record disclosures.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has created a Privacy Accountability Database to aid in tracking, reporting, and accounting the disclosures made from all CMS systems of records permitted by the Privacy Act of 1974 and the...

Web site answers FAQs about HIPAA.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A "Frequently Asked Questions" document about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule is posted on the Department of Health and Human Services' web site. The document answers questions ranging from...

Construction brings opportunity to boost patient safety: safety-oriented planning should precede building process.
January 1, 2003... Health care facility construction, whether a new building or an expansion of an existing medical center, can present a number of challenges, not the least of which is maintaining quality of care and patient safety if the work involves adding on...

Test interventions for improving safety.
January 1, 2003... Spurred by the Institute of Medicine report and a strong ongoing concern for patient safety, the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) in Ann Arbor has instituted a far-reaching program called the Patient Safety Enhancement Program...