When Mac McMillan, CISSP, CEO of CynergisTek in Austin, TX, picked up the phone recently, he had a very nervous hospital administrator on the other end.
Many case managers today feel like they're overburdened, but it may not be clear whether they're actually shouldering too much work. This is because the industry doesn't really have any validated figures indicating what the typical caseload is-or should be, says Pat Stricker, MEd, RN, senior consultant at CMI in Little Rock, AR.
Case managers want their patients to leave the hospital with a successful transition to home or aftercare and not have to return to the hospital unnecessarily.
New nurses just out of school often find themselves at work alongside veterans who have little patience for those who don't perform at par. It's no different for nurse case managers.
On October 1, 2013, the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCSclassification systems will take effect, and should result in better data capture nationwide. The change means healthcare organizations urgently need to educate providers on the importance of improved patient care documentation.
