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Patient access staff will have to get used to a change for Medicare patients, with the new Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) form now used for all situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied. The form, implemented by the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), becomes mandatory
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While a rapid response is important in trying to save lives and prevent in-hospital deaths from cardiac arrest, the vehicle for that response is now called into question.
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The intervention is membership in a group collaborative. The five measures relate to antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgical patients. The endpoint: Did being part of the collaborative help facilities comply with the measures? The conclusion: No.
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With high scores on Hospital Compare to back her up, Indun Whetsell, RN, CPHQ, director of quality management at The Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Orangeburg, SC, says her surgical antibiotic prophylaxis initiatives have paid off in a big way.
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A recent article in The Seattle Times tells the tale of a woman who inadvertently learned she had methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) while in the hospital from a nurse making an offhand comment. Since then, that woman, Jeanine Thomas, has been pushing for further disclosure from hospitals on MRSA.
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A pilot program that allows EDs and health care systems across Milwaukee to share patient information is expected to save thousands of dollars by eliminating redundant testing, while improving patient care.
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Earlier intervention, a second pair of hands, and nurses love them these are all reasons why experts Hospital Peer Review spoke with are in favor of continuing the use of rapid response teams.
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An elderly man comes to your ED and is admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration and fever of unknown origin. Two days later, an X-ray reveals pneumonia.
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Although EDstat, a new eight-bed area that was added to the ED at Reston (VA) Hospital Center about a year ago, is only open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., it has helped to improve the performance of the entire ED. For example, in early spring 2007, before the new area opened, the percentage of patients who left the ED before treatment ranged from 2%-2.5% (statistics were measured monthly). Today, that has been reduced to 0.3%-0.4%.
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With the advent of pay for performance (P4P), what quality improvement professionals track and trend now could affect hospital reimbursement more than ever.
