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U.S. public health authorities urged health providers to raise their awareness about Ebola virus as two American health care workers became ill with the often fatal disease while caring for infected patients in Liberia. At about the same time, a Liberian man became ill with Ebola and traveled by plane to Lagos, Nigeria, where he died in a hospital.
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OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL, redesigned its case management department to improve efficiency and clearly define the role of each clinician.
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There is a significant amount of research that demonstrates ED crowding due to boarding is responsible for poor outcomes, says Tom Scaletta, MD, president of Emergency Excellence, a Chicago-based organization that improves patient care and efficiency in the ED while controlling costs. He also is medical director of a high-volume community hospital in a Chicago suburb.
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Although a recent study at the University of Rochester (NY) seems to indicate that telemedicine could eliminate many pediatric ED visits, a pediatric ED physician with extensive experience with telemedicine believes that its applications are not broad enough to have a significant impact on ED overcrowding.
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Telemedicine has long been recognized for improving access to care as well as access to specialist expertise, particularly in rural facilities.
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In its second year, the clinical documentation program at Jupiter (FL) Medical Center was able to increase DRG reimbursement by 75% over the previous year.
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When the clinical nurse specialists and case managers at Akron, OH-based Summa Health analyzed the reasons patients were being readmitted within 31 days, they determined that mobility issues, self-care deficits, pain control, and failure of discharge planning were key factors.
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After Summa Health System began a series of initiatives to provide a seamless transition as patients move between levels of care, the rate of hospital readmissions within 31 days dropped from 26% to 24%.
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Sharon Spencer, RN, was working around the house on a Saturday evening when she got word that Columbus (IN) Regional Hospital, where she is employed as a case manager, was being evacuated because of a flash flood.
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An emergency physician is managing an acute myocardial infarction, arranging for a patient transfer, sewing up a laceration, and putting in a chest tube, with 20 people still waiting to be seen in the waiting room.