Hospital Case Management articles from September 2004

Hospital Case Management archives from September 2004

Case managers likely to play big role in pay-for-performance initiatives: hospital pay-for-performance measures being tested by CMS.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
September 1, 2004... Sometime in the next few years, your hospital could receive some of its Medicare reimbursement based on how well it performs, if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) follows its typical course of action. Hospitals are advised...

Case managers can lead the way in P4P initiatives: start by identifying your top DRGs.(pay-for-performance measures)
September 1, 2004... Case managers will be invaluable to their hospitals if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) institutes pay-for-performance measures for all hospitals, Teresa Fugate, RN, BBA, CPHQ, CCM, asserts. "Case managers are so...

Hospitals improve CMS project performance: case managers lead the multidisciplinary team.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services')
September 1, 2004... An enhanced care management program is the keystone of Bon Secours Health System s systemwide performance improvement initiatives in connection with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' pay-for-performance demonstration project. ...

Telephonic program cuts CHF readmissions in half: nurses follow up after discharge.(congestive heart failure)
September 1, 2004... A post-discharge follow-up program for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients has decreased the readmission rate by more than half at Harper University Hospital in Detroit. Nurse case managers specially trained to do triage assessment by...

Compliance with protocols may improve outcomes: first large-scale safety study of CABG procedures.(Critical Path Network[TM])(coronary artery bypass graft)
September 1, 2004... What has been called the first large-scale study examine patient safety issues for isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) showed that hospitals with the highest compliance with three recommended protocols had notably lower risk-adjusted...

Clinical guidelines for palliative care published: initiative recognizes growth, maturity of field.(Critical Path Network[TM])(National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care)
September 1, 2004... The National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, a consortium of five palliative care organizations, has released a set of clinical practice guidelines to promote quality palliative care in the United States. The "Clinical...

Do you keep stroke patients waiting too long?(Critical Path Network[TM])
September 1, 2004... She may be an ideal candidate for thrombolytic therapy: A woman tells triage nurses that she first noticed symptoms exactly two hours ago. But by the time the patient is appropriately assessed, the window of time for eligibility to be treated...

Three strategies to reduce overcrowding and gridlock.(Ambulatory Care Quarterly)
September 1, 2004... Want to cut your diversion hours down to zero? That's exactly what Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, CA, has done by instituting its emergency saturation triage, or Code EST. When Code EST was implemented in July 2000,...

How ED managers can find those elusive beds.(Ambulatory Care Quarterly)(TeleTracking Technologies BedTracking software)
September 1, 2004... One of the issues constantly plaguing emergency departments (EDs) is the hidden bed--a precious commodity when a crunch is on. But there are a number of methods that can help identify those beds sooner, says Marty Karpiel, FACHE, FHFMA,...

EDs struggle with growing numbers of uninsured: 'expect problem to get worse--plan accordingly'.(Ambulatory Care Quarterly)(trends in emergency department management)
September 1, 2004... In addition to increased numbers of mentally ill patients, emergency departments (EDs) are seeing more uninsured patients than in the past, and the numbers could grow, warns Brian Hancock, MD, president of the American College of Emergency...

If nurses hoard patients, can you improve flow?(Reader Question)(managing patient flow in nursing units)
September 1, 2004... Question: How do we avoid patient "hoarding," in which nurses or physicians intentionally delay moving a patient out to delay the next patient and give themselves a breather? We've already warned that hoarding won't be tolerated, but it still...

CE questions.(continuing education questions on quality indicators)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... 9. The CMS Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project includes quality indicators from which of the following? A. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality patient safety indicators B. The Leapfrog Group indicators C. CMS...

Protect your hospital's tax-exempt status.(Ambulatory Care Quarterly)
September 1, 2004... Numerous nonprofit hospitals in multiple states have been hit with class action lawsuits challenging their tax-exempt status as charity institutions, and more are expected to follow. They are charged with allegedly overcharging uninsured...