News Briefs: Conference targets cost, quality for case managers
News Briefs
Conference targets cost, quality for case managers
Experts will share their proven ideas for successful case management at The 6th Annual Hospital Case Management Conference: Blue-print for Case Management Success: Information, Accountability, and Collaboration, to be held March 25-27, 2001 in Orlando, FL. The conference is sponsored by American Health Consultants, publisher of Hospital Case Management.
The topics offer something for every hospital-based case manager or quality professional. A variety of speakers will address issues including:
- New avenues for community case managers
- Knowledge-driven care coordination
- Creating a heart service line report card
- What you can teach your CEO about managed care
- Values, ethics, and legal parameters in case management
- The ABCs of the Balanced Budget Act
- Reimbursement: An ever-changing process
- Key concepts in case management
- An interdisciplinary practice model for acute-care case management
- Better case management through denial management
- Measuring the impact of case management interventions
Each session sets aside time to ask the experts your most burning questions. Nineteen contact hours of continuing education will be offered. For more information, contact American Health Consultants, Customer Service, P.O. Box 740056, Atlanta, GA 30374. Telephone: (800) 688-2421 or (404) 262-7436. Fax: (800) 284-3291. E-mail: [email protected].
Dedicated unit improves care of seniors
A special care unit dedicated to care of older patients improves both outcomes and satisfaction ratings, according to researchers at Summa Health System in Akron, OH.
The study conducted at Summa tested a multi-component intervention, called Acute Care for Elders (ACE). The trial included 1,531 patients aged 70 or older currently living at home who were admitted to the hospital for an acute medical illness between November 1994 and May 1997. The ACE unit included a specially designed environment with carpeting and a home-like atmosphere. The unit team consists of the patient’s nurse, a geriatric clinical nurse specialist, geriatrician, social worker, dietitian, physical therapist, occupational therapist, pharmacist, and home care nurse. Features of the multicomponent ACE intervention include:
- nursing care plans for prevention of disability and rehabilitation;
- early planning for patient discharge;
- review of medical care to prevent complications such as adverse drug reactions.
Patients were randomly assigned to admission to either the ACE unit or a standard room. Findings include:
- Self-reported measures of function did not differ at discharge between the intervention (ACE) group and the usual care group.
- The composite outcome of activities of daily living decline from baseline to nursing home placement was less frequent at 34% in the ACE group compared to 40% in the usual care group.
- There were no significant differences in costs, hospital length of stay, home health visits, or readmissions in the two groups.
- Physical therapy consults were obtained for 42% of the ACE group compared to 36% of the usual care group.
- Restraints were applied to 2% of the ACE patients compared to 6% of the usual care patients.
- Satisfaction with care was higher for the ACE group than for the usual care group. This higher satisfaction rate was recorded in patients, caregivers and their providers, as well as for nurses working with the patients.
"It appears that the ACE model helps older patients remain independent and avoid nursing home placement during the year following hospitalization," says lead author Steven R. Counsell, MD, of Summa Health. "These improvements were accomplished without increasing hospital length of stay or costs."
[See: Counsell SR, Holder CM, Liebenauer LL, et al. Effects of a multicomponent intervention on functional outcomes and process of care in hospitalized older patients: A randomized controlled trial of acute care for elders (ACE) in a community hospital. J Am Ger Soc 2000; 48:1,572-1,581.]
Gallup: Americans shun Internet for medical data
Most Americans are still wary about storing or transmitting their personal medical information on the Internet, a recent Gallup survey found.
Commissioned by Turlock, CA-based Medic-Alert Foundation, an emergency medical information service, the study was the first to survey the general public, not just Internet users. Gallup found that 77% of all respondents rated privacy of their personal health information as "very important," and that 84% said they are "very or somewhat concerned" that personal health information might be made available to others without their consent.
Because of these privacy concerns, only 7% of the respondents told Gallup researchers they were willing to store or transmit personal health information on the Internet, and only 8% would trust the security of a Web site for their information.
By contrast, 90% said they trust their doctors to keep the information private and secure; 66% trust a hospital to do so; 42% trust insurance companies; and 35% trust a managed care company. For more information, go to www.medicalert.org.
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