Joya is waiting at the airport in Norway for her plane to the U.S. when she makes a last-minute decision to purchase travel insurance. She reads the insurance policy and information and realizes it excludes preexisting conditions. Joya has an existing cardiac condition that she knows might void the policy, but she decides to be positive.
The pediatric population is at high risk for medication errors in the emergency department, with medication error rates three times higher in pediatric patients than in adult patients, according to a study in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
CMS recently announced MyHealthEData, an initiative aimed at standardizing medical record data and giving patients the ability to share it with providers.
Discharges are a common place for lapses and failures to occur, but when they involve patients suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, they can be even more challenging. Although these complex patient cases may present sizable hurdles, it’s important that facilities take measures to ensure discharges in these instances follow both federal and state guidelines and help protect vulnerable patients whenever possible.
One of the most challenging barriers to patient health is often patients’ own behavior. Case managers encounter them daily: the patient who won’t follow the treatment plan, the patient who persists with unhealthy habits, or the patient who opts against making lifestyle changes that can improve his or her condition.
Case managers in today’s healthcare world face a challenge in confronting growing opioid abuse while also managing the use of opioids in certain circumstances as an effective treatment option for acute and chronic pain.
Inpatient rehabilitation facilities are a valuable postacute option for patients with complex medical and rehabilitative needs. But if you’re planning on referring a patient to one of these facilities, it’s becoming more important to make sure he or she meets medical criteria for the placement before making a recommendation.
