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The Affordable Care Act and other provisions of healthcare reform definitely have shone a bright light on utilization, care coordination, and case management interventions.
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The CMS efficiency measure has once again raised the issues of length of stay management and cost reduction. These have always been a component of the role of the hospital-based case manager. In todays best practice models, these interventions must be correlated with the roles of coordination and facilitation of care, discharge planning and utilization management. The case managers roles and functions, as well as staffing ratios, must be designed in such a way as to allow for this integration of roles. Be sure that your department is focusing on how to embed this important function in your everyday practice!
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As part of its efforts to decrease readmissions, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL, developed a hospitalwide initiative to create safe transitions.
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The researchers who studied patient handoffs at 23 childrens hospitals found an alarmingly high baseline rate of handoff failure: 25.8% of the handoffs were insufficient or inaccurate.
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Lakewood Hospitals pilot project in which a patient navigator worked with at-risk patients saved the hospital $156,000 in just six months.
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As penalties rise for readmissions, it is critical for hospitals to implement and support continuity of care initiatives as patients transition from one level of care to another.
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Patients experience fewer postoperative complications when a surgical safety checklist is used by their surgical team, reports the first large-scale review on the subject published in the June issue of Anesthesiology. By following a simple checklist, healthcare providers can minimize the most common postoperative risks such as wound infection and blood loss.
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A surgery center increased its collections 47% from a four-month period in 2012 to the same period in 2013 by collecting copays and deductibles up front. Less than 1% of patients have cancelled.
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A study in the July issue of Anesthesiology revealed that patients who receive a simple, multicolor, standardized medication instruction sheet before surgery are more likely to comply with their physicians instructions and experience a significantly shorter postop stay in recovery.
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Proving that less really is more, five specific tests or procedures commonly performed in anesthesiology that might not be necessary and, in some cases should be avoided, was published online June 16 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
