Observation Care

Observation Medicine: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

June 6th, 2017
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Observation medicine in 2017 has proved no less a hot topic than it has been recent years. Institutions continue to develop observation units and processes to determine the correct level of care for when a patient requires hospitalization. This has not been a smooth transition from the days when a patient requiring admission as an inpatient […]

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Posted in Observation Care

Integrated Acute Care: The Impact of a Patient Centered Admission Team

October 25th, 2018
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When patient care is a priority, there is a natural integration of more and more elements of the patient’s hospital experience, from their entry process through their stay and finally their discharge. Not only is integrating care delivery service more efficient at delivering care – it’s more effective. An integrated care delivery model starts with […]

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Posted in Hospitalist Medicine, Observation Care, Quality Efficiency Utilization

Wall Street Journal Should Dig Deeper on Observation Care

December 17th, 2015
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The Wall Street Journal’s Dec. 1 story on observation care is relatively even-handed and does a good job at bringing to light the highly complex web of regulation, which has gotten a little slice of the U.S. health care system to where it is today. The gist of the story is rather straightforward: 30-day readmissions […]

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Posted in Future of Healthcare, Observation Care, Quality Efficiency Utilization

Four Rules for Bed Assignment In An Efficient Hospital

September 28th, 2015
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Editor’s Note: the following is an excerpt from Dr. Robbin Dick’s forthcoming book on Hospital Capacity Management. Dr. Dick is MEP’s Director of Observation Services. He will be speaking on hospital capacity management and other subjects at MEP’s third annual observation medicine conference, Observation Care ’15. Bed assignment often sets the pulse for the entire hospital, affecting every patient and every […]

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Posted in Observation Care, Quality Efficiency Utilization

Medicare Rule Requiring 3-Day Inpatient Stay as Condition for Skilled Nursing Care Dates to 1965

March 27th, 2014
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Medicare recipients who are being denied coverage for skilled nursing care because they were under “Observation Status” during a recent hospital stay should blame a nearly 50-year-old Medicare rule – not their doctors or the hospital. The rule in question requires Medicare recipients to have had at least a 3-day inpatient hospital stay in order […]

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Posted in Hospital Partnership, Observation Care

The Day It Hit Me Just How Messed Up the Healthcare Industry Can Be

December 6th, 2013
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The other day I learned about a product called TRACKer Pro, and this is when it hit me just how messed up our healthcare system can be sometimes. The product’s description on its website (ractracker.org) pretty much tells the story: The TRACKer PRO solution is a dynamic web-based technology that provides hospitals with a powerful […]

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Posted in Future of Healthcare, Observation Care

The Two Midnight Rule Puts New Pressure On Hospitals – Here’s Why We Should Embrace It

October 4th, 2013
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Do not fear the Two Midnight Rule. Yes change is upon us, AND there are some important ways for hospitals to prepare for these changes. On October 1, 2013 the rules changed, with CMS altering its guidelines for inpatient admissions and how Medicare audit contractors are going to view these admissions.

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Posted in Future of Healthcare, Observation Care

What the NY Times Missed In Its Praise of Maryland Healthcare

August 29th, 2013
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The NY Times on Wednesday published a much needed and fairly adulatory story about the Maryland healthcare system, focusing much of its praise on Western Maryland Health System – a long time MEP partner. The story rightly pointed out two key differences between Maryland’s healthcare system and all the other states. One is the “Total […]

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Posted in Future of Healthcare, Hospital Partnership, Observation Care, Transition Care

Announcing the Inaugural 2013 Observation Medicine Conference

May 30th, 2013
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The use of observation medicine to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes is growing every day. But running a financially sound and high quality observation unit is a difficult task. There is a lack of knowledge and systems to properly integrate observation care into the smooth flow and operations of the hospital, not to mention […]

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Posted in Observation Care

What is observation care? Clearing up common misperceptions

February 7th, 2013
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To treat observation care as simply a loophole that allows hospitals to avoid the Medicare penalties from readmissions — as Brad Wright, an assistant professor of health management and policy at the University of Iowa did earlier this month on KevinMD.com — is to take a short-sighted approach to a complex health issue. Observation care in […]

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Posted in Observation Care