With Nurse Leader Position, Hospital Gains More Timely Discharges and Higher Patient, Provider Satisfaction
Does your hospital want to expedite discharge, improve quality, reduce turnover, and enhance patient and physician satisfaction? A medical center in Florida says they reaped these and other advantages through creation of a unit-based, clinically focused nurse leader position. Developing a "Clinical Resource Nurse" position yielded several benefits in this pilot study by Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Implications of this Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study for the Care Transitions Project include more timely discharges and higher patient, nurse and physician satisfaction. Read more.
Save-the-Date: Next Care Transitions Learning Sessions March 25, April 15, April 22
Texas Health IT Summit in Dallas April 22-24
Hospital Coalition Luncheon May 4
Follow-Up Appointment Cards Available in English and Spanish – Free to Download
Help for Reducing AvoidableReadmissions—New Guide from Affiliate of AHA Preps Hospitals for Reform
Revised Home Health Prospective Payment System Fact Sheet (January 2010) Now Available
Medicare Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration Details
MedPAC Payment Recommendations for all Sectors of Healthcare Industry
Save-the-Date: Next Care Transitions Learning Sessions March 25, April 15, April 22
Care Transitions QIOSC Learning Sessions are now offered the fourth Thursday of every month, from 2 to 3 p.m. Central Time. Learning sessions cover a vast assortment of topics related to the Care Transitions Project. For participation instructions, visit the TMF Web site's
Upcoming Events.
Texas Health IT Summit in Dallas April 22-24
TMF partners with Texas Health Institute to offer this conference covering the most current topics in health information technology. Focus areas include e-prescribing, EHR implementation, HIE, federal stimulus funding and "meaningful use." The conference is April 22-24 at the Sheraton Dallas North Hotel. To register and for more information, visit the
Texas Health IT Summit Web site..
Hospital Coalition Luncheon May 4
The next meeting of the Valley Hospital Coalition will be May 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Casa Villa Suites in Harlingen. This will be an opportunity for hospital professionals to discuss important issues related to the Care Transitions Project in the Valley. TMF tentatively plans to have guest speakers covering two topics: A physician and nurse to discuss palliative care, and a hospital representative to share information on their newly-introduced and spread systemwide Re-Engineering Discharge (RED) interventions. Look for more information soon on the
TMF Upcoming Events site.
Follow-Up Appointment Cards Available in English and Spanish – Free to Download
These cards can be used to help improve care and patient satisfaction and reduce readmissions by ensuring discharged patients have follow-up appointments scheduled. Cards include an explanation of what they are for on the front and a calendar on the back for patients and health care professionals in charge of discharge to fill in appointment information. Coming soon: Follow-Up Appointment Cards for use by inpatient rehab facilities, long-term care providers, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and others. Under "Provider Interventions and Tools" for hospitals, scroll down to "Other Tools and Resources" and
download cards.
Patient Self-Care Workbooks for COPD, Diabetes or Heart Failure in English and Spanish – Free to Download
These three Patient Self-Care Workbooks may be used by clinicians to help educate patients (or caregivers) about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and heart failure. They provide simple explanations of each of the diseases and cover signs and symptoms to report to your physician, medications, diet and exercise considerations, and treatment information. The workbooks encourage patients to become involved in the management of their own chronic illnesses by helping them set goals and recommending an easy way for them to document progress.
Find them here.
Complete Handouts from the Brownsville Conference on January 21, 2010, "I8-Month Care Transitions Project Update: Care Transitions Measurement Is Here. Are You Ready?"
This Conference to re-energize the Care Transitions Project at the beginning of the final measurement period brought several nationally acclaimed speakers to the Valley. Learn new ins and outs for transitioning patients.
Download complete set of handouts.
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H2H: Best Practice – Series I
This January Hospital to Home (H2H) Best Practice webinar featured presentations by Dr. Neal White, Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group, Inc. and John Muir Health System and by Jann Dorman, Senior Director of the Care Management Institute, Kaiser Permanente. H2H is a national quality initiative to reduce 30-day readmissions of cardiology patients sponsored by the American College of Cardiologists (ACC) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and partners. The webinar archive slides, references and participant questions are posted in the "Archived Webinars" section of the "Online Library" of the H2H Web site. Note: You must log in on the Web site to view the Online Library.
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Help for Reducing Avoidable Readmissions—New Guide from Affiliate of AHA Preps Hospitals for Reform (PDF)
Payers and policymakers have been taking a close look at avoidable hospital readmission rates and costs associated with them. Medicare discharge payments could be reduced by as much as five percent according to the House bill and three percent in the Senate bill for hospitals found to have high readmission rates. This free guide from the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, offers hospital leaders a four-step approach for reducing avoidable readmissions. Even if reform stalls, the Guide points out avoidable readmissions are being seen more and more often as a quality issue by payers, health care organizations and patients and that some research even links readmission rates with quality of care.
Download the Guide (PDF).
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Revised Home Health Prospective Payment System Fact Sheet (January 2010) Now Available (PDF)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides information about coverage of home health services and elements of the Home Health Prospective Payment System in this revised fact sheet.
Download the fact sheet now (PDF).
Medicare Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration Details
The Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration will provide global payments for acute care episodes within Medicare fee-for-service (FFS). The focus is on select orthopedic and cardiovascular inpatient procedures. ACE Demonstration goals are to improve quality for FFS Medicare beneficiaries; produce savings for providers, beneficiaries and Medicare using market-based mechanisms; improve price and quality transparency for improved decision making; and increase collaboration among providers.
Read more.
MedPAC Payment Recommendations for all Sectors of Healthcare Industry
Highlights of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommendations to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for 2011 are summarized in this Remington Report article. Information is included for hospital, physician, post-acute care, home health and hospice providers. Read more.
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Care Transitions is a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services quality improvement project for Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley administered through TMF Health Quality Institute. It is a regional, collaborative effort to reduce avoidable hospitalizations by improving patient care transitions.
http://caretransitions.tmf.org | 1-866-439-6863 | 512-334-1775 fax | caretransitions@tmf.org
This material was prepared by TMF Health Quality Institute, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Texas, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 9SOW-TX-CT-10-21