The healthcare industry is changing rapidly, and if you've been paying attention to the news you've probably noticed the recent wave of hospital mergers.
Q. Is it acceptable for admitting and patient registration staff to photograph patients upon check- in for identification purposes? Is it permissible to take pictures of behavioral health patients for the same purpose?
Doctors might know what's best for their patients, but patients don't always choose to follow that advice. Over these past few issues, CMM has talked about CMS' new suggested best practices, which were included in revisions to the discharge planning section of the CMS State Operations Manual. These new recommendations call on facilities to carefully investigate patients' refusals to heed medical advice and document their reasons for doing so. However, there is more you can do when a patient balks at a physician's instructions, says Wendy De Vreugd, RN, BSN, PHN, FNP, CCDS, MBA, senior director of case management at West Region Kindred Healthcare, Hospital Division.
Every healthcare organization should develop and implement a policy and a well-defined process that provides guidance for managing incident and breach response.
