Two recent high-profile celebrity suicides and news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that suicide rates are on the rise across the country have prompted some healthcare professionals to look more closely at suicide prevention and whether more can be done to help individuals struggling with mental illness.
Health literacy can have a major impact on patient outcomes. If a patient doesn’t understand his or her condition, the reasons for treatment, and how to properly take medication, the patient could experience a relapse or adverse reaction.
Ms. P arrives on a medical unit at a major medical center escorted by two armed police guards from the local jail. The social worker, Ann, asks about the reason for the guards and the length of time that they will be on the unit, but the officers tell her they can’t share this information.
Social determinants of health are social factors, such as homelessness, illiteracy, a history of childhood trauma, and joblessness or underemployment, that can affect a person’s health. Coding for these factors is important because CMS officials now use some of them to adjust quality measures for patients who are dual-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and coding these factors may help shape future health policy.
Anita is a 76-year-old patient who cannot be insured. She has no income and came to the U.S. on a green card that expired many years ago. Anita has end-stage renal disease and can no longer care for herself. Her disease has progressed so dramatically that she will never be able to stand or walk on her own again. What can a case manager do in this complex case to ensure Anita receives care?
If provisions of the 2019 IPPS proposed rule related to admission orders become a reality in October, case managers could be relieved of a big headache. If this portion of this rule is finalized, CMS would reverse the requirement that a physician’s order must be in the medical record for the hospital to bill for inpatient services under Medicare Part A.
Does your performance under the HRRP truly reflect the quality of care at your organization? There can be vast differences in 30-day hospital readmission rates for patients and conditions studied under the Medicare program, compared to other patients at an organization.
Many people think that text messaging is the territory of teens, not older Americans, but a California program is challenging that stereotype. Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Centers in San Diego has seen much success with a texting program aimed at providing support to recently discharged patients, many of them seniors.
