Coordinating post-acute services for patients has been an ongoing challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. One solution is for hospitals to form partnerships with local skilled nursing facilities. These partnerships can help hospitals find adequate care for complex patients. Hospital case managers and other staff can help the skilled nursing facility with difficult problem-solving and care coordination.
Whether for financial reasons, to improve integration of care, decrease duplication of clinical services, or to mitigate the financial effect of COVID-19, more hospitals are choosing to consolidate into larger systems. What can hospital case managers do to prepare for this, and how can they handle the transition with grace?
For case management and transitional care services to produce positive results in patient and economic outcomes, they need to be consistent, researchers suggest.
Vulnerable stroke patients often are transitioned home, which can create challenges and the continued need for case management or follow-up care. Researchers studied these transitions in a pragmatic trial to see if health systems would implement transitional care for certain stroke patients.
Challenged with employing enough staff in case management departments, the need for expertise in every role, and the increased requirements from payers, case management leaders are evaluating centralizing utilization review. This centralization carries both benefits and challenges, some of which are amplified because of the current healthcare climate.
A recent study of Medicare data revealed facilities have many opportunities to improve readmissions — to either a medical or psychiatric hospital — after psychiatric hospitalization.
Approaching one year after COVID-19 began spreading in the United States, case managers are considering how to make the most of their new perspective in 2021 and beyond. The pandemic has shone a light on case management program and healthcare facility weaknesses, but also has brought new opportunities for leadership and advocacy. What can case managers do to maximize these opportunities and avoid pitfalls?
Hospital case managers, just as case managers in all work settings, have faced unbelievable challenges this year. Hospitals are slowly transitioning back to more of a “normal” environment. With the new year approaching, it is a good time to revisit the Five Disciplines that help case management teams refocus on the business side of client care.
COVID-19 has spurred myriad changes in hospitals as providers scrambled to adapt to the new normal. That includes new and creative ways to connect and support patients.
