This article was recently posted by Glenn Kraus on HCPRO's CASE MANGEMENT WEEKLY. With his permission, it is essential reading for HCM leaders. It highlights the reasons why the UR function can no longer be an 'add on' activity to the hospital case managers' role. Executives lax attention to the issues surrounding 'medical necessity' is no longer realistic if the hospital wants to financially thrive.
Designing and executing a clinical resource management program is not easy. It’s not so much that any one part of the program is difficult to design and implement. Rather, it’s the combination of all the parts that becomes untenable.
When we started this newsletter back in 1994, we reported the difficulties in obtaining information about payer denials. Hospitals simply could not provide actionable information to identify the source of their denials...
When case management was introduced in hospitals in the mid 80s, it was accompanied by a promise to control costs at the bedside.
Recovery Audit Prepayment Review: Will allow Medicare Recovery Auditors (RACs) to review claims before they are paid to ensure that the provider complied with all Medicare payment rules. The RACs will conduct prepayment reviews on certain types of claims that historically result in high rates of improper payments. These reviews will focus on seven states with high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers (FL, CA, MI, TX, NY, LA, IL) and four states with high claims volumes of short inpatient hospital stays (PA, OH, NC, MO) for a total of 11 states. This demonstration will also help lower the error rate by preventing improper payments rather than the traditional "pay and chase" methods of looking for improper payments after they occur. This demonstration is delayed until further notice.
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Welcome to the February issue of REFLECTIONS, the new name for our monthly e-newsletter. The lead article is about 'leveling the playing field' between the hospital and its medical staff with the Federal prepayment processes adopted by the MACs and the RAC demonstration project. We also feature a research stufy on meds that are responsible for ED visits and emergency rehospitalizations which supports our contention that the clinical pharmacist must take an active role in preparing patients and families for transition from the hospital. As always, we welcome your comments and thoughts.

The Leader's Guide to Hospital Case Management
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