Make the MOON work for you: Strategies for complying with the latest guidance

April 7, 2017
Case Management Monthly

Just before the MOON requirement became effective March 8, CMS added another hoop to jump through in an open door forum held February 28.The discussion in that forum forced many organizations to change course at the last minute as CMS announced it would not allow pre-populated check boxes in the free-text field of the MOON designated for describing clinical reasons for the service the patient receives. Organizations that had listened to experts touting the value of adding check boxes with specific rationale to the MOON were forced to revamp the form shortly before implementation.

Nutrition support may be falling short due to discharge, coverage flaws

April 18, 2017
Case Management Monthly

Does your discharge planning process ensure patients are getting adequate and accurate nutritional support? It might not, according to two new studies presented at the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) Clinical Nutrition Week (CNW) conference. 

Director’s desk: Using huddles and visual boards to keep staff informed

April 21, 2017
Case Management Monthly

Case management directors are held accountable to many metrics. But far too often, information about these metrics is not shared with staff. What a shame. If staff is to work smarter, they must be kept in the know. So, what is the best way to do this? Use the daily departmental huddle to review key metrics on a visual board. The huddle and review of the board should not last more than 15 minutes, but can serve a dual purpose if used correctly. For starters, it ensures staff is up to date with hospital metrics and identifies hot issues for the day. It also alerts case management leadership to case load issues so they can determine where help is needed.

Complex case: Financial counselors are an important contributor to LOS management

April 28, 2017
Case Management Monthly

Nancy is a manager of a hospital with a large indigent population. Nancy notes that immediately after the implementation of healthcare reform, many of her patients have obtained some form of health insurance, usually Medicaid. Often, the patients access Medicaid with the help of the hospital’s expert financial counselors. Recently, however, the number of uninsured patients in the community seems to be increasing. As a result, more uninsured patients are being admitted. Before healthcare reform, many uninsured people failed to seek timely, preventive healthcare. Therefore, they were quite sick by the time they came to a hospital. Nancy is now seeing a resurgence of uninsured indigent patients.