SUCCESSFUL HOSPITAL HOME HEALTH CARE PARTNERSHIPS

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SUCCESSFULHOSPITAL HOME HEALTH CARE
PARTNERSHIPS
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Some Background on Piedmont. . . .

• Piedmont Hospital is a 458 bed private,
  not-for-profit, tertiary care facility offering
  all major medical, surgical and diagnostic
  services
• Piedmont Hospital is a member of Piedmont
  Healthcare, which includes Piedmont Fayette
  Hospital, Piedmont Mountainside Hospital,
  Piedmont Newnan Hospital, the Piedmont
  Physicians Group, the Piedmont Clinic, and the
  Piedmont Hospital Foundation
• Honors include
• 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient
  Safety
• 2006 100 Most Wired by the American Hospital
  Association
• One of only two Hospitals in Georgia (Piedmont
  Fayette was the other) named on the 2006 list of
  100 Top Hospitals by Solucient

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My Background . . .

• 24 years at Piedmont Hospital
• Most recently the Director of Patient Care
  Coordination (Case Management)
• Previously the Director of Social Work
• 2 years at Southern Regional Hospital
• 3 years as a Nursing Home consultant for Social
  Work
• 2 years as a Home health care contract Social
  Worker
• Credentials include
• Accredited Case Manager
• Case Management Administrator, Certified
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker
• Academy of Certified Social Workers

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Partnership Benefits for Hospitals

• On-site liaison
• Ease of referral
• Continuity of care
• Better Accountability
• Risk-sharing partner

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S U C C E S S T I P S

• Know the hospitals driving forces
• Decrease Length of Stay (LOS)
• Decrease Cost Per Case
• Improve Outcomes
• Decrease Readmissions
• Improve Patient Satisfaction

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S U C C E S S T I P S

• Educate the hospital
• Explain regulations, reimbursement,
• and other factors that influence home
  healths ability to provide services products
• Explain protocols and risk factors associated
  with these

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S U C C E S S T I P S

• Be Flexible
• Be willing to discover how to make things happen
  consider how home health can collaborate to
  achieve the desired outcome

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S U C C E S S T I P S

• Empower Staff
• Allow decision-making (within parameters) at the
  lowest level
• Encourage and support problem-solving
• Inspire a climate of yes

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S U C C E S S T I P S

• Keep the lines of communication open and in use
• Make sure the hospital knows who the key contacts
  are within your agency
• Make sure your key contacts are reachable and
  empowered to make timely decisions

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C O M M O N L Y M A D E M I S T A K E S

• Late notification that you cant handle the
  referral (after the patient is discharged, due to
  reimbursement problems, etc.)
• Not showing up and not informing the
  patient/family and the hospital sometimes due
  to staffing problems, sometimes due to
  communication delays, etc.
• Saying no to a referral before considering how
  to make it work
• Not adequately staffing or responding to
  on-call/after hours referrals
• Refusing to accept referrals for contracted plans
  (ie Agency A is the preferred provider for
  insurance B, but Agency A doesnt prosper from
  the insurance B contract, so they dont want to
  accept insurance B patients)

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Reasons for Late Problematic Referrals

• Plans changed and instead of patient going to
  another care facility, they are now going home
• Physician unexpectedly decided to discharge
  patient (late in the evening, on the weekend,
  without prior indication, etc.)
• Difficult patient/family situation
• Previous home health agency refuses to accept
  patient back on service

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ALL THE HOSPITAL REALLY WANTS IS

• To know that you will provide what is requested
• On time
• As ordered and prescribed
• To know that if you cannot provide what is
  requested, that you will inform the hospital
• Promptly, so that an alternate referral can be
  made
• And possibly assist with locating another vendor
• To meet expectations of patients, families, and
  physicians
• For the patient to be able to leave the hospital
• when medically ready (on time)
• To know the patient wont return to the hospital
  due to a failed discharge plan

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Questions . . .
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Adrianne Feinberg, LCSW, CMAC, ACM e-mail
adrianne.feinberg_at_earthlink.net