Discharge Planning
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Medical Records in the COVID-19 Era: Renewing the Case for Interoperability
The problems of electronic medical records (EMRs) have been all too real during this pandemic. Patients with life-threatening COVID-19 symptoms have gone to hospitals without family or friends. They may not recall critical details of their medical history, including medications. At the crux of this crisis is the patient’s EMR, which holds important details that help providers make treatment decisions. Too often in hospitals, healthcare providers cannot access all these records, which is frustrating for everyone.
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Look for Undocumented Social Determinants of Health in Patient Charts
One conundrum for hospital case managers involves identifying patients’ social determinants of health needs when the hospital record does not list all these data. The visible data could be missing critical factors related to why patients are returning to emergency departments or are not taking their medications.
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COVID-19 Can Cause Neurological Symptoms and Strokes in Patients
One major health problem related to COVID-19 involves neurological symptoms and signs of brain injury. Patients with COVID-19 can experience acute periods of confusion, post-traumatic amnesia, and delirium. Physicians and researchers do not know what will happen to patients with COVID-19 over the long term and whether they will fully regain their prior cognitive status.
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Case Managers Can Guide Patients with COVID-19 to Rehab Services
After days, weeks, or even months of hospitalization with COVID-19, patients often need considerable help with their post-discharge recovery. This is especially true for people who need pulmonary, brain injury, or cardiac rehabilitation. Hospital case managers can help patients recover by educating them about various rehabilitation services.
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Understanding Social Determinants of Health
There is widespread acknowledgement that community-level social determinants — affordable housing, stable employment, reliable transportation, and access to healthy food — are a crucial component of holistic strategies to promote health, well-being, and longevity while also reducing healthcare costs. This month, we explore this concept and what it means for case management professionals, and most specifically social work case managers.
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Healthcare Planning for the Lone Senior
Social isolation is a life-and-death matter, believed to influence mortality as much as obesity and smoking. Yet amid the growing population of seniors, many are unmarried, widowed, or have no children living nearby. When discharge planning for the lone senior, case managers should know several points about this demographic.
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VA Care Coordination Satisfaction Rates Higher Than Community Care
Focusing on better communication and care coordination, a Department of Veterans Affairs facility exhibited strength in its communication and care coordination, according to the authors of a new study.
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How to Harvest Big Data to Reduce Readmissions
“Big data” is a buzzword in healthcare these days. The term refers to the vast amount of electronic data healthcare providers have accumulated over the years. While the concept can seem pretty abstract, big data is more relevant than ever and potentially at every case manager’s fingertips if provided with the right tools to harvest it.
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The Elements of a Transitional Heart Failure Care Program
Hospitals and subacute facilities monitor congestive heart failure patients closely, but there may be a gap in care once patients are discharged. A transitional heart failure care clinic can fill that gap.
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Hospital’s Transitional Care Programs Help Heart Failure Patients Stay Healthier
Hospitals that focus on collaboration between case management and transitional care clinics for people with congestive heart failure are finding positive outcomes in their patients’ health and 30-day readmissions.