Discharge Planning Advisor Archives – July 1, 2008
July 1, 2008
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Transfer DRGs: Trouble lurks in DRG coding errors, post-discharge decisions
In four short years, the number of diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) that are subject to the post-acute-care transfer definition ("transfer DRGs") has mushroomed from 30 to 273, exponentially increasing the impact that incorrect assignment can have on a hospital's Medicare reimbursements. -
'Re-engineered' discharge uses checklist
When a patient discharged on a Friday is back in the hospital the following Monday, there can be many reasons. A few years ago, Boston Medical Center took on a project aimed at finding out whether discharge processes contributed to adverse events and rehospitalizations, and whether something could be done to turn that around. -
'A good step down' – CAH swing beds bridge gap
Legislation enacted a decade ago to strengthen rural health care by encouraging states to take steps to bolster rural health networks resulted in adding another tool to the discharge planning toolbox – the critical access hospital (CAH). -
A little goes a long way for discharge
It's a fine line walked during discharge education marrying content with effectiveness of delivery, about which researcher Marianne Weiss, DNSc, comments, "A little key content delivered effectively is better than gallons of knowledge delivered in a way that overwhelms." -
CMS seeks to expand hospital quality incentives
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed changes that would update payment policies and rates under the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for fiscal year 2009, cutting payments for hospital-acquired conditions or medical errors and giving hospitals financial incentives to meet quality criteria. -
For post-stroke mobility, look at pre-stroke ability
When predicting, for purposes of a discharge plan, a stroke patient's post-hospital mobility needs, you should take a close look at how well the patient was getting around before the stroke, an international research group reports. -
When patient resists discharge plan, what to do?
When a patient who is medically ready for discharge and mentally competent to make his or her own decisions is unwilling to accept referral to a setting his or her health care team feels is safe and appropriate, is it feasible to take a step back and allow the patient to try? -
For The Record: Hospitals wanted for test of bundled payment system
Hospitals are being recruited to test the use of a bundled payment system for hospitals and physicians for care delivered through Medicare fee-for-service.