Mrs. Gray, a 93-year-old is in the ICU, has been diagnosed by her physician as having chronic heart disease that has progressed to “end stage.” The physicians set up a meeting at the patient’s bedside to discuss this prognosis with her and invite a representative of every member of the healthcare team to participate. Among those attending the meeting were the nurse case manager and social worker, who makes sure a representative from spiritual care is also present. Since the patient has told them that she has no family or friends, which the social worker validates after an extensive investigation, there are no significant others to attend. Mrs. Gray is truly the last living member of her family.
Hard to believe but this year the Commission for Case Manager Certification celebrates its 25th year of certifying case managers. Are you one of them? I hope so and I hope your management supports the need for its staff who serves in a case manager role to be certified.
As HIMB’s 30th year comes to a close, we look back on a year of exciting developments and new challenges. Both HIMB and the HIM profession have seen their share of changes over the past 30 years, and this year was no exception.
This week’s Medicare updates include finalization of two new payment models, the January 2017 update of the ASC Payment System, an OIG report on vulnerabilities that remain under CMS' 2-Midnight Rule, and more!