Last month, CMM outlined the new CMS 2014 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) guidelines, which revised inpatient admission standards (see correction on p. 4). This month we're going to offer some tips to assist you to help physicians document accurately, and inform you about some other changes that will affect the way case managers do business when it comes to meeting the new standard.
Physicians and nurses tell patients how to take their medications before they leave the hospital. But many patients find these instructions confusing and may not really understand what medications they're taking, why they are taking them, or how to take them properly. The result: They take the medications incorrectly-or not at all-and end up back in the hospital.
A case manager at a meeting described how the family of a patient was pressuring her to change the patient from outpatient services to inpatient status. If she didn't help, the family pleaded, the patient would face higher costs for postacute care. The case manager bragged about how she held the line, despite the tears. However, others in the room didn't think the details of the case were as black and white as the case manager claimed. And some wondered whether "holding the line" at any cost is really what a case manager should be doing.
