Hospital Case Management – May 1, 2009
May 1, 2009
View Issues
-
Take steps now to reduce readmissions, ED visits within 30 days
When the Obama administration announced its goals for revamping health care, it proposed cutting reimbursement to hospitals that readmit a large number of patients within 30 days of discharge. -
CMs help the chronically ill stay out of the hospital
A community case management program for clients with complex conditions has significantly reduced emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient admissions at Poudre Valley Hospital, resulting in a savings of nearly $1.4 million for a sampling of clients in just six months for the Fort Collins, CO, health system. -
Community CMs bridge gaps in the continuum
When an elderly woman continued to have elevated blood pressure after her physician prescribed a medication regimen, the doctor assumed the patient was confused and not taking her medication properly. -
Heart failure advocates help patients comply
Having heart failure advocates work with discharged patients to help them self-manage their care cut the rate of readmissions within 30 days from about 20% to 5%-6% at six hospitals that are part of the Catholic Healthcare Partners health care system. -
Critical Path Network: Study shows readmissions drop when patients understand discharge instructions
Patients who have a clear understanding of their after-hospital care instructions are 30% less likely to be readmitted or visit the emergency department (ED) than patients who don't have that knowledge, according to a study at Boston University Medical Center. -
Critical Path Network: ED triage improves patient flow
A new emergency department (ED) triage system at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL, decreased the time that elapses between when patients arrive and when they are treated by 33%, slashed the number of patients who left without treatment by 50%, and cut 20 minutes off the total turnaround time from when patients arrive at the ED and when they are discharged or admitted. -
Don't let the IM fall through the cracks
Hospitals still need to be vigilant about issuing the Important Message from Medicare (IM), notifying Medicare patients of their right to appeal their discharge, their financial responsibilities, and how to appeal their discharge, warns Jackie Birmingham, RN, MS, CMAC. -
Access Management Quarterly: Strategies to increase your preauthorizations
One hundred percent of scheduled cases authorized that is the goal set by Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital's financial access unit.