All Entries Tagged With: "quality care"

CMW Tip of the Week: Case managers and core measures

This week’s tip, an “Ask the Expert” is provided by June Stark, RN, BSN, MEd.

Q: What role does the case manager play in coordinating and implementing core measures?

A: The primary barrier to having a case manager in this role is that it adds yet another responsibility to an already overburdened caseload.

If a case manager accepts the responsibility of becoming involved in the core measure process, this should not mean he or she becomes the leader of the project or carries out the core measures at the bedside. Instead, the case manager performs what is called “the sweep,” which is a final review of a patient’s chart.

This is the last opportunity to make sure all the core measures have been carried out and documented by the staff nurses and physicians throughout a patient’s entire hospital stay. In essence, the case manager has the final word on the completion and documentation of the core measures.

Have a tip or tool you’d like to share? Or maybe a question for our experts? E-mail it to editor Julie McGinley at jmcginley@hcpro.com.Your thoughts could be featured in the next issue of Case Management Weekly!

CMW Tip of the Week: Talk with patients to determine outcome goals

This week’s tip, an “Ask the Expert,” comes from Karen Zander, RN, MS, CMAC, FAAN.

Q: We social worker and nurse case managers have caseloads that are too big and we don’t know when to discharge patients from the practice. How long should patients be followed?

A: There is a point at which the best interventions either work or don’t work for a particular patient. That point should be preset and constantly discussed between the disease manager and the patient. Ask questions such as, “How will we both know when you feel like the master of your disability/disease/condition?” Making the outcomes (patient goals) measurable and writing them down at the beginning is the best way to keep them in focus. Patient goals should be evaluated regularly.

Have a tip you’d like to share? Or maybe a question for our experts? Email it to editor Julie McGinley at jmcginley@hcpro.com.Your thoughts could be featured in the next issue of Case Management Weekly!