Don’t Leave Managing Patient Throughput Off Your To-do List.

Maintaining good patient flow is more important than ever as CMS and other payers move toward payment reform basing reimbursement on the entire episode of care. Making sure patients move smoothly through the continuum is part of the case manager's responsibilities and is essential to the hospital's bottom line. Complete patient assessments and start discharge planning on Day 1, or before the patient arrives if the admission is planned, to eliminate last-minute problems that contribute to avoidable delays. Establish what happens during every step of the hospital stay, identify where the bottlenecks occur, and take steps to make improvements. Case managers should cover all access points to ensure admitted patients meet inpatient criteria and arrange services at another level of care if they don't.