CASE MANAGEMENT & DICHARGE PLANNING SERVICES
In recent years, Case Management and Discharge Planning Services in hospitals have encountered many more difficulties in finding suitable placements for their patients needing to be discharged to post-acute and long-term care facilities.
There are several reasons for this. First, acuity levels of most patients needing post-acute care have dramatically increased. Second, hospitals are attempting to reduce lengths of stay to effectively manage their case mix. Third, very few of the patients' physicians who treat them while in the hospital are willing to follow them in the post-acute settings because of reimbursement and malpractice coverage issues. Fourth, potential referrals are being held up because the post-acute facilities claim they don't have an appropriate bed available.
What in reality is occurring is that the nursing homes are reluctant to accept these patients because they don't have enough physician involvement to support their staff. As a result, patients are frequently kept in the hospital longer than they need to be. Also, when these patients are discharged, quite frequently they come right back to the hospital as a non-reimbursed acute admission, or as an unnecessary ER admission. This happens because the post-acute facility's staff is uncomfortable trying to care for these patients without significant physician involvement.
That's where our specialized practice comes in.
We don't have clinics and we don't round in any hospitals. We only follow patients in post-acute and long-term care settings!
Because of this, most local physicians and all the Hospitalist programs ask us to collaborate with them and to follow their patients into the post-acute settings. They know we will immediately pick them up upon discharge, and we won't compete with them for their patients in the hospital or in the community. Because of this, they are very willing to collaborate to achieve good continuity of care. As a result, earlier discharges are achieved, as well as fewer inappropriate ER visits and non-reimbursed re-admissions occur.
Discharge planners and social workers now see General Medicine, P.C., and our physicians as a very valuable resource to their discharge process.
We assist with placements and solve frequent problems encountered when trying to place a patient. As a result, Hospitals realize the following benefits :
- Earlier Discharges - Decreases lengths of stay . D/C quicker and sicker.
- Continuity of Care – Excellent transfer for best care and malpractice coverage .
- “On-site” Clinicians – Immediate follow-up minimizes unnecessary ER visits and un-reimbursed re-admissions .
- Daily coverage if medically necessary – Short-term rehabs followed immediately.
- No-Doc Coverage – Now you are guaranteed to have coverage available.
- Independent Local Practice – We work with you and keep your patient within your system . This ensures No loss of patient to a competitor hospital or healthcare system.
