Hospital Case Management articles from June 2009

Hospital Case Management archives from June 2009

Track your outcomes to justify adding new staff, avoiding budget cuts.
June 1, 2009... Track your outcomes to justify adding new staff, avoiding budget cuts Show your impact on patient care, bottom line As more hospitals plan staff cuts due to the poor economy and tighter restrictions on reimbursement by the Centers for...

Use data for operational changes, quality.
June 1, 2009... Use data for operational changes, quality Up-to-minute info allows you to head off trends Case management outcomes can be a powerful tool for identifying the need for operational changes or process improvements throughout your...

Pre-admissions screening helps cut readmission rate.
June 1, 2009... Pre-admissions screening helps cut readmission rate Discharge planning begins before the hospital stay A pre-admission screening and educational program for patients having elective surgery has helped slash readmissions among patients...

Critical Path Network: Culture change turns hospital system around.
June 1, 2009... Critical Path Network Culture change turns hospital system around Process ensures that patients meet medical necessity criteria A few years ago, Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio was $80 million in the red and was...

Critical Path Network: Patient intake center operates 24-7.
June 1, 2009... Critical Path Network Patient intake center operates 24-7 Protocol allows RNs to make admission decision Every admission to any of the four facilities in the Christus Santa Rosa health system goes through a central patient intake...

Critical Path Network: Pre-op initiatives aid discharge planning.
June 1, 2009... Critical Path Network Pre-op initiatives aid discharge planning Patients attend class, screened before surgery One patient who was attending a preoperative class for joint replacement patients at Geisinger Health System joked that...

Surg patients pre-screened for discharge issues pre-op.
June 1, 2009... Surg patients pre-screened for discharge issues pre-op Clinics, hospital staff work to prevent readmissions By the time the majority of patients having elective surgery are admitted to Geisinger Health System, the care managers who will...

Ambulatory Care Quarterly: Diversion scheme draws national organizations' ire.
June 1, 2009... Diversion scheme draws national organizations' ire Hospital might reconsider its policy Several EDs across the country have initiated policies to encourage patients who don't face "true" emergencies to seek care elsewhere in the...

Ambulatory Care Quarterly: Hospital's plan - a bridge too far?
June 1, 2009... Hospital's plan -- a bridge too far? While it's true that many hospitals and EDs have instituted policies that seek to encourage nonurgent patients to find other medical "homes," the policy recently adopted at the University of Chicago...

Ambulatory Care Quarterly: Beware of EMTALA, warns legal expert.(Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Beware of EMTALA, warns legal expert Hospitals and EDs that institute policies similar to the recent approach instituted at the University of Chicago Medical Center would do well to consider that they may be in violation of the Emergency...

Ambulatory Care Quarterly: 'Seniors-only' ED draws raves from patients.(emergency department)
June 1, 2009... 'Seniors-only' ED draws raves from patients Revamping existing space kept down costs The senior emergency center at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD, may be a rarity, but based on the responses of patients and staff -- not to...

Ambulatory Care Quarterly: Multi-unit team designs senior ED.(emergency department)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Multi-unit team designs senior ED Once the decision was made in July 2007 to create a senior emergency center at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD, Bonnie Mahon, RN, BSN, MSN, senior director of medical, surgical, and senior...

Ambulatory Care Quarterly: ED staff volunteer for senior center.(emergency department)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... ED staff volunteer for senior center Most of the staff in the new senior emergency center at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD, came from the main ED, says David Cummings, RN, CEN, the hospital's emergency center director. "What...

CNE objectives/questions.(certified nurse educator )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... CNE objectives 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; ...