Interventions designed to reduce hospital readmissions are accomplishing their goal from a patient perspective—but not always from a cost savings perspective.
In recent years, the federal government has been pushing hospitals to help their patients self-manage chronic conditions. If patients and families aren’t able to sufficiently self-manage their conditions within 30 days of discharge, hospitals may incur reimbursement penalties when these patients are readmitted or need to come back to the emergency department, says Karen Zander, RN, MS, CMAC, FAAN,president and CEO of The Center for Case Management, Inc., in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Below is information from the National Institute of Mental Health outlining the signs and symptoms of depression and how the condition might manifest differently in different patients. The complete guide on depression is available online.
This week's note discusses the order and certification requirement for critical access hospitals (CAH), including the proposal in the FY 2018 IPPS proposed rule to reprioritize the review of CAH inpatient admissions.