High-risk Medicaid patients who received transitional support after hospital discharge were 20% less likely to wind up back in the hospital during the following year, according to a new study.
If you're looking to reduce your readmissions-and let's face it, who isn't these days?-it may be time to take some tips from organizations that have had success.
By now you've probably gotten a good look at the 2014 IPPS Final Rule changes to the inpatient admission guidelines, which CMS released in August. It's time to put these changes into practice.
In the August and September issues, CMM told you about a recent set of revisions to the discharge planning section of the CMS State Operations Manual. While most of the changes amounted to housekeeping, CMS did take the unusual step of including some non-binding best practice recommendations related to discharge practices. Surveyors won't penalize your organization if you don't follow these recommendations, but experts recommend following the agency's advice whenever possible.
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.
Observation or inpatient? It sounds like a simple question, but it continues to be a sticky area for most facilities. If your organization is having trouble correctly assigning every patient, you're not alone.
