Community Case Management
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Patient Watches Solve Safety Issue With Better Use of Resources
Hospitals often struggle with the need to provide close watch over a potentially dangerous patient without relying on skilled nurses or security officers who are needed elsewhere. Some hospitals are finding that a “patient watch” program is the right solution.
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Clinicians Need the Right Tools to Care for Older Patients With Cognitive Deficits
As the U.S. population ages, hospital providers are confronting the complicated challenge of meeting the needs of more patients with dementia, delirium, and other cognitive deficits. To get ahead of this demographic trend, some health systems have developed initiatives aimed at equipping their workforce with the knowledge and tools to recognize and manage this population better while also offering a more compassionate and welcoming face to patients and families.
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Workers’ Comp Case Managers Juggle Many Skills for Clients
For nurse case managers who enjoy a challenge, workers’ compensation offers the opportunity to use every organizational and creative skill to make things happen for people whose lives are in crisis. Workers’ compensation case managers must be highly skilled in communicating with a variety of stakeholders, including providers, insurance companies, patients, and others. They must ensure everyone understands that the patient should receive the right treatment at the right time to return to work as soon, efficiently, and timely as possible.
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Bundled Payments, Population Health Fuel Move to New Healthcare Models
A health network with more than a dozen acute care hospitals has developed teams with advanced care providers to work with Medicare at-risk patients to improve care and reduce costs. The case management-style teams also work with some privately insured patients. The team approach has resulted in a 9.5% reduction in 30-day readmissions, according to a healthcare organization’s internal data.
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Healthcare Organizations Use Different Approaches to Reducing Readmissions
Two different techniques highlight success in reducing healthcare costs and readmissions. What they have in common is a focus on teams. Developing the right skills and putting the right team in place are key to success.
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Leapfrog Says Patient Safety Measures Improving; Maternity Not So Much
A recent report from the Leapfrog Group and Johns Hopkins found that poor hospital performance on 16 patient safety measures caused more than 161,000 deaths annually, a decrease from 2016. The Spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades updates the group’s estimate of deaths due to errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, breaking them down by the A through F scores Leapfrog assigns to hospitals. An analysis of 2,600 hospitals reveal that when compared to A hospitals, there was a 92% greater risk of avoidable death at D and F hospitals.
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Work With Community Partners to Develop Solutions for Opioid Use Disorder Patients
While many emergency physicians are reluctant to tackle the issue of addiction, there is growing recognition that EDs offer a huge opportunity to identify patients with opioid use disorders and link them to meaningful care. The obstacles are many, but forward-thinking emergency medicine leaders in regions hit hard by the opioid epidemic are finding paths to success, often in partnership with other agencies or community groups.
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Collaborations Between Health Advocates and Case Managers, Others Can Make a Difference
Case managers and other healthcare providers increasingly are finding that their work includes collaboration and communication with providers and health advocates across the care continuum. For health advocates, these interactions are necessary to help the patient achieve optimal health and function.
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Observe and Take Notes, But Try Not to Judge
Health advocates can collect comprehensive and important information about a patient’s daily life and share the findings with primary care providers. But it can be challenging to walk through someone’s home and listen and observe without judging and wanting to take immediate action.
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How Health Advocates Work With Patients, Case Managers, and Other Resources
A health advocate’s role varies, depending on the patient populations and goals. Health advocates collaborate with the patient’s healthcare team and help everyone reach an agreement on the care transition or any necessary changes.