When it comes to providing high-quality patient care, most American hospitals simply don’t. That’s if the recent round of five-star rankings from CMS are to be believed. About 1,700 hospitals (39%) earned just three out of five stars, an “average” rating, FierceHealthcare reported.
It's no secret that hospitals struggle with assigning the most appropriate status for patients, and this challenge is compounded by CMS' frequent changes to its regulations and guidance. To combat incorrect patient status assignments, one hospital has developed a system that rewards employees for speaking up when they suspect a patient's status is incorrect.
There's good news and bad news on the 2-midnight rule front. The good news: CMS has put short-stay inpatient audits related to the 2-midnight rule on hold as of May 4. The bad news: This isn't a free pass, and it isn't going to last.
Assigning the correct patient status is important not only to ensure that the hospital gets accurate payment for a patient stay, but also to ensure that the patient receives access to the postacute benefits to which he or she is entitled.
One of the more challenging aspects of a case manager's job is helping to ensure a patient successfully transfers from the hospital to the next level of care. Under a set of proposed revisions to Medicare's Conditions of Participation (CoP) announced in November 2015.
