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In order to facilitate smooth transitions between levels of care and ensure that patients continue to recover after they are discharged from the hospital, Baystate Health, with headquarters in Springfield, MA, is partnering with post-acute providers and meeting regularly to discuss opportunities for improved patient care and partnership.
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A multi-disciplinary initiative to make sure patients receive care in the right setting at the right time for the right reason has resulted in a drop in length-of-stay at the two hospitals in the Memorial Health Care System in Chattanooga, TN.
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Salaries for case managers are increasing but the vast majority of case managers are working far more than the typical 40-hour week, according to the 2011 Hospital Case Management Salary Survey.
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In the December 2011 issue of Case Management Insider we discussed the roles most commonly used by case managers in today's acute care setting. These included the following:
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After his cheek was fractured when a patient smashed a fist into his jaw in the emergency department, Jeaux Rinehart, RN, BSN, PHN, figured he'd had enough. He worked for 32 years as an emergency room nurse and loved it, but finally he could no longer tolerate patients hitting, yelling, cursing, or spitting at him.
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Occupational health should consider an employee's tobacco dependence as a "chronic relapsing condition," according to the Office of the Surgeon General's Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence clinical practice guideline 2008 update.
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While medication adherence is a critical element in reducing the impact of illness, employers should view it as just one of many components that are needed in strategic employee health management initiatives.
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If you're not paying as much attention to documentation and medical necessity for Medicaid patients as you do for those covered by Medicare, your hospital is likely to suffer when the Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program starts on Jan. 1, 2012.
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When it comes to helping their patients or clients learn to take responsibility for their own healthcare, the first thing case managers have to do is to get to know them and become familiar with their family situation, says B.K. Kizziar, RN-BC, CCM, CLP, owner of B.K. & Associates, a Southlake, TX, case management consulting firm.
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New initiatives being developed as a result of healthcare reform, such as the patient-centered medical home and the accountable care organization, are new models of care delivery, but the concepts are not new to case managers, says Mary Beth Newman, MSN, RN-BC, CMAC, CCP, MEP, CCM, program manager, case management, WellPoint Centers of Medical Excellent, based in Mason, OH, and president of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) with headquarters in Little Rock, AR.
