With the first read of Pam Arlotto’s ”Rethinking Return on Investment: The Challenge of Accountable Meaningful Use,” healthcare providers are acquainted with what it will take to transform existing care delivery organizations to patient-centric, high quality, cost-efficient organizations to compete under the proposed Affordable Care Legislation. Managing value will require a realignment of organizational culture and operations to achieve success. Management of…
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Value Levers (Part 3)
Value Levers (Part 2)
Pam Arlotto began her book, ”Rethinking Return on Investment: The Challenge of Accountable Meaningful Use“ with the recognition that healthcare transformation requires not only changing how care is delivered but changing the mindset of those charged with delivering it. Patient care value is described as how technology is used and the meaning of that use as measured by the change…
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Value Levers (Part 1)
Accountability for patient care value is more than a buzzword or marketing hyperbole. Accountability for delivering patient care value is entering the mindset of clinicians in all practice settings. Being personally accountable for outcome extends altruism to professional identity and self-scrutiny of effectiveness. Care providers are recognizing the need to maximize their contribution to patient outcome within the broader spectrum…
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As clinical practice adopts electronic patient records as a means for automating documentation and reporting requirements, often it becomes convenient to recreate paper forms in electronic format. Evidence of this practice continues as clinicians request a copy of someone’s “form” because they are in the process of building their hospital’s electronic clinical record. This short cut will be greatly appreciated….
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Long-term care and post-acute care facilities are not officially eligible to take part in the Meaningful Use EHR Incentive Program. However, many facilities are still closely watching the quality measures and health IT standards called for in the program. The proposed meaningful use requirements for Stage 3 will focus upon care coordination and sharing of information across the care continuum….
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The last time I wrote about the new CMS reporting requirements for outpatient rehabilitation services about to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, I referred to the issue as practicing in the code of ‘G.’ Now that the CMS screws become tightened, and practice change becomes reality, these reporting requirements take on new meaning as politicians, policymakers and bureaucrats…
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Meaningful use had its first birthday earlier this year and celebrated with announced success and ambitious goals to get another 100,000 healthcare providers paid under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs by the end of 2012. “Meaningful use” means providers need to show they are using certified EHR technology in ways that improve care. So, where is the…
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Now is it the time to invest in healthcare quality! The Affordable Care Act will shift the process of patient care in many ways with more patients gaining access to care and less money paid for its delivery. All providers will feel the pressure to demonstrate care value and focus on effectiveness and efficiency for successful outcomes. Healthcare providers already…
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Meaningful Misuse
In one of my previous posts, I commented; “…in the final analysis, meaningful use is a function of the competence, compassion and caring of the warm-blooded men and women of healthcare.” I ran across an article in NURSE.com that underscores this point well. Cathryn Domrose wrote an article titled, “Health IT Might Cause Patient Safety Issues.” In it, she explores…
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Inpatient rehabilitation hospitals present additional expectations for nursing skills and practice that they place on nursing personnel. Predicting the correct number of staff and skill mix to address the individual patient needs presents a challenge to traditional acute hospital staffing models. Accountable care will become a greater influence on hospital operations than traditional fiscal practices of staffing, the what-we-think-we-can-afford methods….
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