Only about half of hospital leaders and physician practice leaders think they are very or extremely effective when it comes to managing the chronic care needs of patients, and less than half think the same of their efforts to prevent hospital readmissions, according to a recent survey.
A case manager at a community hospital has a cancer patient who comes to the emergency department and requires hospitalization. The patient wants to transfer to the hospital where she goes for chemotherapy treatments, but due to busy flu season, that hospital has no beds.
Case managers often run into questions when performing their daily duties. Sometimes they’re related to best practice, and other times they’re related to regulatory issues.
The disappearing MLN Matters® on total knee arthroplasty is back. CMS reissued it on January 24 with fixes to some—but not all—of the problems in the initial version.
The latest Biennial Health Insurance Survey released by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that aims to promote a high-performing healthcare system, finds that a growing number of Americans are struggling with insurance-related problems.
For case managers, some of the most challenging patients are those with multiple chronic conditions, and ensuring effective care and preventing avoidable readmissions requires coordination, communication, and consistent follow-up.
A case manager returns to work at the start of the new year only to find that two of his patients’ commercial insurances had implemented new discharge planning and utilization review rules effective January 1.
Research has shown that untreated depression in hospitalized patients may affect patient outcomes, including recovery and the likelihood of readmission after discharge. Screening for depression can help spot the problem and help patients get needed treatment.
A recent study published in Healh Affairs claims that reductions in readmission rates reported as due to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) are “illusory or overstated.”
