Curing Hospital Readmissions

As Penalties Loom, Learn the Strategies of Real-Time Monitoring and Early Interventions

Wednesday, January 18, 2012
12:00-1:30 p.m. (ET)

About the Webinar

Program Objectives

Webinar Will Answer These Questions

Attend from your desktop or conference room. Invite your whole team to attend at one low price of $329 per location. Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials until December 31, 2012.

When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it included a provision titled the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program that is laced with stinging prospective-pay cuts that will change the way care is provided in hospitals across the country. According to Donald Berwick, CMS Administrator at the time, the program was introduced to create a payment approach that encourages hospitals to adopt practices that reduce avoidable readmissions, reduce errors and prevent patients from acquiring new illness or injuries during a hospital stay.

As noted in its name, one of the key areas targeted are avoidable readmissions – and for providing organizations that don’t meet the regulations, the penalties are stiff. Hospitals that fails to measure up to the new standards (patients readmitted into the hospital within 30 days of their discharge) can lose up to 1 percent of total Medicare payments for fiscal year 2013, 2 percent for 2014 and 3 percent for 2015. On the other hand, for those organizations that can show reduced readmission rates and outcomes for patients with complex medical conditions, financial rewards are the windfall.

Because of the financial impact of these programs, hospitals have started to implement programs that identify patients at risk and develop proactive strategies to reduce avoidable readmissions as a result of disease progression, lack of care coordination and complications that can be avoided or decreased through patient education and proactive management.

To learn about innovative ways that organizations are reducing avoidable readmissions, gather your team on January 18, 2012, from 12:00-1:30pm EST to learn from an esteemed faculty who at the forefront of improving the delivery of care for patients at risk.

By attending this training session you will learn:

How organizations are changing the system through effective patient engagement and proactive medical management.
Why engaging patients to be active participants in their care is essential to preventing readmissions and ultimately containing healthcare costs.
What the impact of avoidable readmissions are on the patient, the family and the healthcare system.

About the Webinar

According to the MedPack Report of 2010, savings from preventable readmissions could be considerable. About 18 percent of Medicare hospital admissions result in readmissions within 30 days of discharge, accounting for $15 billion in spending. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that up to 76 percent of these readmissions are preventable.

The topic conditions for readmissions include:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Congestive Heart Failure
Diabetes
Depression
Asthma

Multiple factors contribute to avoidable hospital readmissions. These can range from poor quality care or poor transitions between different providers and care settings. Likewise, such readmissions may occur if patients are discharged from hospitals or other healthcare settings prematurely, are discharged to inappropriate settings, or do not receive adequate information or resources to ensure continued progression.

A lack of system factors, such as coordinated care and seamless communication and information exchange between inpatient and outpatient providers, can also lead to unplanned readmissions.

With the looming financial penalty for avoidable readmissions, leaders are searching for ways to manage this patient-centered problem. Health ystems who are able to coordinate care and change the patterns of readmissions can be part of the work to improve the quality of care and reduce the nation’s healthcare costs. To meet this challenge, hospital care management departments are working to find innovative ways to identify patients at risk and put into place strategies to change the trend.

Program Objectives

Discuss the impact of readmissions on the healthcare system, the patient and family.
Explore innovative strategies that identify patients at risk and assist the care team in proactive management of patients at risk.
Describe the role of the health care team in reducing avoidable readmissions and the outcomes that can be achieved with a coordinated plan.

Our Webinar Will Answer These Questions

How are health systems and providers working to reduce avoidable readmissions?
What tools are available to assist in identifying patients at risk for readmissions?
Which strategies are being utilized to proactively manage patients so that exacerbations and complications are recognized early so that interventions can be put into place early?
How is the care management team working together to improve the transition of care?
What are the implications that hospitals systems and payers will face with regard to avoidable readmissions?
What role does the patient and the family play in reducing avoidable readmissions?
How are organizations dealing with lower reimbursement/resources during these tough economic times to meet the diverse needs of patients?

Faculty

Karen Paradiso, the Vice President of Client Services, is responsible for implementing Pharos Disease Management programs for clients, including payers, governmental programs and providers. She has 29 years of healthcare experience, including 15 years as a practicing intensive care nurse. She has a background in disease management ranging from quality assurance to program development. She has been with Pharos Innovations for the past seven years in positions of increasing responsibility for clinical operations and account relationships. Presently she is responsible for implementing Pharos Innovations’ programs for all clients, including payers, governmental programs, and providers. This includes product and client support, development and implementation, data analysis and account optimization. Ms. Paradiso received a BSN from Marquette University and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau.

Dr. Madeleine Y. Gomez is a licensed clinical psychologist and President of PsycHealth, Ltd., a women's and minority certified, URAC accredited, managed behavioral healthcare organization established in 1989. She is the co-author of the recently published "This Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You", a book which documents the art and words of children sharing their feelings regarding corporal punishment.

Patti Rickheim, MS, RN, CDE; Manager, Adult Health Care Home; Park Nicollet Health Services
Patti Rickheim, MS, RN, CDE received her Master’s Degree in Nursing from the University of Minnesota and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Nursing from Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Patti is Manager for Health Care Home at Park Nicollet for Primary Care Operations. Her role is to manage, train, educate and coordinate Park Nicollet’s implementation of Health Care Home at Primary Care sites. This includes ongoing quality and process improvement efforts that meet the standards of Health Care Home including change management, and staff training. Her role is to coordinate patient population groups at high-risk with chronic/complex conditions in the outpatient care settings and to assist staff in identifying those patients eligible for Health Care Home enrollment. She supervises and mentors RN care coordinators and Care Coordinators in care delivery as well as other clinic staff personnel. Her previous work experience for fifteen years at International Diabetes Center (IDC), at Park Nicollet prepared her for this role. At IDC, Patti has educated patients, families and health professionals and has presented nationally on diabetes curriculum development, teaching strategies and group education. She has also written the booklets, Type 2 Diabetes: The First Step, Taking Care of Your Feet, Sick Days, Travel, and Other Disruptions, Blood Glucose Patterns: A Guide to Achieving Targets as well as developing Type 2 Diabetes BASICS curriculum for type 2 diabetes patients not on insulin and Insulin BASICS curriculum for patients starting insulin. Patti completed an educational research study called, “Which is More Cost-Effective: Individual or Group Consults?” Results of this study have been published in Diabetes Care, February 2002.

Janet Kimmel, BSN, MBA, RDCS is the Clinical Manager of Cardiac Health and Rehabilitation at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center. She received her BSN from Purdue University, and has an MBA in Health Care Management. In her current role, she has been working with a multidisciplinary team to reduce 30 day readmissions for heart failure. As a result of this work, she helped establish the Heart Connect program which is a telephonic monitoring program for heart failure patients.

Moderator:
Anne Llewellyn RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Editor in Chief, Case Management Products
Dorland Health, a Division of Access Intelligence

Who Should Attend

Case Management Directors
Disability Management Specialists
Frontline Case Managers
Hospital Leadership
Managed Care Leadership

Hospital Advocates
Medical Directors
Mental Health Counselors
Nurse Practitioners
Social Workers

Purchase Options

Live Webcast Registration – $329 (per-site fee)
Webcast Recording on CD-ROM – $329
Live Webcast and CD-ROM – $389

Questions?

For questions regarding the Webinar or to register by phone, contact Hope Kabik at 301-354-1769.

If you are having any technical difficulties or need assistance meeting these requirements, please contact our Technical Support Center at 1-866-229-3239..

For content questions regarding this Webinar, contact Anne Llewellyn at 954-254-2950 or email allewellyn@dorlandhealth.com.

*Dorland Health does not offer any refunds for the webinar. All sales are final.

How Does the Webinar Work?

The live audio is delivered to your location over the telephone or your computer speakers. The Power-Point presentations are presented over the Internet and are available to print out before the program. This is like a talk-radio program with visuals on the Web. You and your team will be able to have a live Q&A with all the speakers.

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