Patients may have easier access to laboratory results under an HHS proposed rule, "CLIA Program and HIPAA Privacy Rule: Patients' Access to Test Reports," released in September.
Q A patient signed an authorization form eight months ago, and her attorney is now submitting it to obtain a copy of her medical records. Is this authorization still valid, or do we need to get the patient to sign a new authorization?
Many case managers face the dilemma of how to cover their own assignments. When asked to cover the duties of colleagues who are ill or on vacation, the dilemmas only increase. Yet covering for another case manager is often necessary to make sure the care coordination needs of the patients and their families are met. The situation often results in both positive and negative outcomes that the team must be prepared to handle.
Making discharge arrangements for patients leaving the facility can be challenging under the best of circumstances. But when a patient is a traveler, someone who will head back to another state or country, the difficulty factor increases exponentially.
When patients are set to be discharged from the hospital, they have the right to appeal that discharge decision. Hospitals have a duty to inform patients that they have this right by providing them with a required notification mandated by CMS called the Important Message from Medicare (IM).
Case managers are busy people. And in an era of budget cuts, they may find themselves strapped for time and resources. Due to these circumstances, some case managers might find themselves looking for methods to better manage their workload, including finding ways to focus their time on the neediest patients.
