Hospital Case Management – December 1, 2006
December 1, 2006
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Case managers need extensive education, regular competency exams
B. K. Kizziar calls it case management training by the "Poof!" method. "One day, you're a nurse on the floor. The next day, you're in the case management department and, within a week, Poof! You're a case manager. -
Education helps CMs learn to do their jobs better
When Lyn Clark, RN, BSN, became case management director at Lake Granbury Medical Center in Granbury, TX, she found herself with a staff working with no direction and who had very little knowledge about the role of case management in the hospital setting. -
Tracking delays cuts LOS, improves patient flow
A process that tracks delays in service at Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick, MD, has improved patient flow by ensuring that tests and procedures occur in a timely manner. -
Critical Path Network: Demonstration project claims $1 billion in potential savings
Data from Premier Inc.'s pay-for-performance demonstration project with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicate that improving the care of pneumonia and heart bypass patients alone can save as much as $1 billion a year, as well as thousands of lives. -
Critical Path Network: Project participants reaping the benefits
Facilities that are participating in the Premier/ CMS demonstration project already are seeing the benefits in improved quality not to mention the attendant incentives. -
Critical Path Network: HHS issues Privacy Rule decision tool
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights has issued a decision tool for disclosures for emergency preparedness under HIPAA. -
Critical Path Network: Joint Commission revises look-alike/sound-alike list
For the first time in several years, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations has revised the look-alike/sound-alike drug list. -
Critical Path Network: CDC: Fire away with flu shots, more vaccine coming
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with influenza vaccine manufacturers to try to smooth out supply problems and ensure all providers get their slated doses, said Jeanne Santoli, MD, MPH, deputy director of the Immunization Services Division at the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. -
Team educates staff, ensures compliance
Having a dedicated team ensure compliance with the core measures has resulted in significant improvement in patient care quality at Cheyenne (WY) Regional Medical Center. -
Guest Column: Don't skimp on evaluation
It is pointless being really busy improving your case management services if you don't also make sure that the changes being made are as effective as they could be. You also need to be sure that you are making the right changes. This is where evaluation becomes important. -
Ambulatory Care Quarterly: Elderly AMI patients don't always get beta-blockers
When elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) come to emergency departments (EDs), they are less likely to be given beta-blockers than younger patients, says a new study.