Hospital Case Management – December 1, 2008
December 1, 2008
View Issues
-
Hospital medical records to come under more federal scrutiny than ever
Some time in the next 18 months or so, four different sets of auditors could be scrutinizing the medical records at your hospital. It's all part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Medicare Integrity Program initiative, mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which seeks to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare claims. -
Documentation program helps avoid revenue loss
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the new MS-DRG reimbursement system in 2007, a data analysis projected that Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center was likely to lose about $500,000 with the new system, based on the hospital's 2006 data. -
Discharging patients with behavioral disorders
For professionals working in health care, it is easy to quickly become accustomed to the various presentations and stressors that accompany a patient who requires hospitalization. In fact, our efficient functioning is dependent on this to some degree. -
Critical Path Network: EMR triggers, concurrent review help hospital scores
A series of initiatives, including automatic triggers for quality measures in the hospital's electronic medical record and concurrent review by case managers for core measures, has resulted in significant increases in quality measure scores at Russellville (AL) Hospital, a 100-bed facility. -
Critical Path Network: Easing transition from hospital to LTAC
Faced with capacity challenges, the case management department at Harris Methodist Hospital in Ft. Worth, TX, is collaborating with representatives from local long-term acute care hospitals (LTACs) to develop ways to improve transitions of care from one facility to another. -
Critical Path Network: Medicare clarifies medical privacy of health info
MLN Matters, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides clarification about the Privacy Rule of HIPAA, when transferring private health information to potential post-acute providers: -
Ambulatory Care Quarterly: IP oversight required: If NV leads, will nation follow?
Proposed state laws in Nevada in the wake of a highly publicized hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas include proposals to hire infection preventionists (IPs) as consultants to oversee practice in freestanding clinics.