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Before Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, AL, redesigned its case management program, nurses from two separate departments social services and utilization review performed case management-type functions. In 2002, the hospital hired a division director to redesign its case management program and oversee the social work, discharge planning, and utilization review functions.
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has slashed the number of standards in the 2004 hospital accreditation program from 508 to 225 as part of the agencys Shared Visions, New Pathways initiative.
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Its one thing to keep everything moving swiftly throughout the ambulatory surgery process, but dont let the quick pace affect the completeness or accuracy of your documentation.
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Do you ever see nurses in your emergency department misusing or wasting supplies, and wish they knew what these items actually cost? Heres a solution: Ask nurses to guess what the ED pays for various common items.
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Before the case management department at Northeast Medical Center in Concord, NC, launched an initiative to cut down on denials, the hospitals rate of avoidable days was as high as 12%. Now, 2½ years later, avoidable days have dropped to 8%.
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In todays tight nursing labor market, case management directors must find ways to keep staff from seeking greener pastures. The cost of hiring and training new employees is significant. Thats why it is important for directors to motivate and retain quality staff whenever possible.
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At National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC, a bright green pen-and-paper form has taken up residence in each patient room to help team members document the initial functional independence measure score required under PPS. The green form is hard to miss; but if someone neglects to record a score in the required first three days, the hospitals PPS coordinator will make sure it gets done.
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The University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle is in no hurry to implement a tool an ad hoc committee created to teach patients their role in safety issues. It is running it through a series of pre-tests before implementing it housewide.
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The purpose of this pre- and post-intervention observation study was to evaluate the effect of an educational initiative on ventilator-associated pneumonia rate.
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Switching to an all-electronic system in the emergency department for charting and other functions is only a dream for some cash-strapped facilities, but an Ohio hospital is showing that the high initial cost can be recouped quickly through the money saved on transcription and other services. The hospital is saving more than $400,000 a year in transcription costs alone.
