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Ensure that patients meet criteria, documentation supports it
If you’ve got a system for getting patient status right up front and it works, don’t change anything but make sure that the documentation is detailed and complete, advises Linda Sallee, RN, MS, CMAC, ACM, IQCI, director for Huron Healthcare with headquarters in Chicago.
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Who’s in observation? The treatment team needs to know instantly
Patients receiving observation services can fall through the cracks and stay in the hospital longer than necessary if there’s not a way for the treatment team to easily distinguish between them and admitted patients.
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For All the World to See: Patients Seriously Burned in OR Fires
A Washington, DC, TV station reports on patients severely burned in OR fires. -
Review patients at every entry point to ensure patient status
The solution to getting patient status right is to have case managers in the right places to review the cases of patients who are coming into the hospital, says Beverly Cunningham, RN, MS, consultant and partner at Oklahoma-based Case Management Concepts.
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Inpatient or observation: Will the difference ever be clear?
CMS has been trying for several years to clear up the confusion about which patients should be admitted as inpatients and which should receive observation services as outpatients, but the new rules seem to make it more difficult to understand.
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Unnecessary blood tests are common prior to low-risk surgery — high variation among facilities
Depending on which facility patients go to for their low-risk surgical procedure, they may be 2.4 times more or less likely to be sent for unnecessary blood tests.
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High rate of office visits and cumulative costs prior to colonoscopies for colon cancer screening
Kevin R. Riggs, MD, MPH, instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues analyzed billing data to determine the proportion of colonoscopies for colon cancer screening and polyp surveillance that were preceded by office visits.
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Are flexible resident duty hour policies safe for surgery patients?
Allowing residents the flexibility to work longer shifts than allowed in the United States and to take less time off between shifts to provide continuity of patient care is not associated with a greater risk to patients of early serious postoperative complications or death, according to study results involving 117 U.S. general surgery residency programs and 151 hospitals.
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American Pain Society publishes guideline for post-surgical pain management
The American Pain Society has released a new evidence-based clinical practice guideline, appearing in The Journal of Pain, with 32 recommendations to help clinicians achieve optimal pain management following surgery. According to numerous studies, most surgical patients receive inadequate pain relief, which can heighten the risk for prolonged post-surgical pain, mood disorders, and physical impairment.
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BCBSA study shows how consumers save with shift to outpatient care
A new study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association demonstrates how much consumers and payers save when medical procedures shift from an inpatient to an outpatient setting.