CMS began rolling out new cards to Medicare beneficiaries in April and recently announced that wave one of the mailing has been completed. The new cards are intended to help protect beneficiaries’ Social Security Numbers.
Two recent high-profile celebrity suicides and news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that suicide rates are on the rise across the country have prompted some healthcare professionals to look more closely at suicide prevention and whether more can be done to help individuals struggling with mental illness.
Case managers are a valuable component of any healthcare facility’s care team, whether they are in discharge planning or utilization management roles. As healthcare evolves, so too do the roles and expectations for the facility’s staff, making it critical for case managers and other team members to periodically evaluate whether their career goals align with their current work.
Social determinants of health are social factors, such as homelessness, illiteracy, a history of childhood trauma, and joblessness or underemployment, that can affect a person’s health. Coding for these factors is important because CMS officials now use some of them to adjust quality measures for patients who are dual-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and coding these factors may help shape future health policy.
Case managers must begin to learn the skill of brokering for care. The goal of private payers is to provide the most cost-effective care that meets medical necessity for services and increases likelihood for recovery.
