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As hospital discharge planners and case managers struggle to place patients with complex care needs in skilled nursing facility (SNF) beds amidst the challenges of the prospective payment system (PPS), many are keeping their heads above water with a mix of timely planning, community collaboration, and creative thinking.
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Discharge planners at some facilities apparently are either unaware of -or are ignoring - a federal requirement that hospitals offer patients a choice of home care providers and that they tell patients when there is a financial interest between the hospital and an agency to which the patient is being referred.
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Its a frequent tactic of physicians: claiming that quality data are imperfect, invalid, or otherwise misleading. When physicians are not acting on proven data, the quality manager has to stand up to the physicians and protect the integrity of the data, says Frederick P. Meyerhoefer, MD, principal of the Canton, OH-based Meyerhoefer Organization, a consulting firm that specializes in compliance with Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations standards.
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Some of the key aspects of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations 2005 infection control standards are summarized here:
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Perhaps the hardest thing to get used to about the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations new survey process is the lack of any set agenda, says Helena Feather, vice president of compliance and health information at Trident Health System in Charleston, SC.
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Expect a lot of interaction with unit staff but no control over where surveyors go or who they talk to. Thats what quality managers who participated in the pilot surveys for the Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations Shared Visions New Pathways process are saying.
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Even before the new accreditation survey process goes into effect, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Organizations has created options to the self-assessment component
of the survey.
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Physicians who offer moderate, deep, or general sedation in their offices should be board-certified in the type of surgery they perform in the office setting, under new guidelines for office-based surgery approved by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Medical Association (AMA), both in Chicago.
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Who do we love? Our surgeons, of course! Who do we hate? Our surgeons, of course. What is it about this group of practitioners that can drive us all to extremes, often within one day?
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This column addresses specific questions related to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) implementation.
