The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a final rule that empowers patients preparing to move from acute care into post-acute care (PAC), a process called “discharge planning.” Today’s rule puts patients in the driver’s seat of their care transitions and improves quality by requiring hospitals to provide patients access to information about PAC provider choices, including performance on important quality measures and resource-use measures – including measures related to the number of pressure ulcers in a given facility, the proportion of falls that lead to injury, and the number of readmissions back to the hospital.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed major changes to the discharge planning conditions of participation in 2015. After granting themselves a one-year reprieve, they released the final rule in late September. And although CMS chose not to adopt many of the original proposed changes, there are still significant changes that will require process change and development of new protocols and policies. In this exclusive session, Dr. Hirsch will review the changes and make recommendations for compliance with the regulations.

Why This is Relevant:-

Compliant discharge planning is a condition of participation in the Medicare program and the increased attention to patient autonomy and shared decision-making is sure to result in careful scrutiny of hospitals’ compliance by CMS and the accreditation agencies. Ensuring these processes are hard-wired and reproducible is crucial.

Learning Objectives:-

During this session, you will...

• Learn about the adopted changes to the discharge planning regulations;
• Understand the role of patient autonomy in the new rule;
• Learn about the post-acute provider-patient choice regulatory changes; and
• Receive information that will help ensure your hospital is compliant with the new transfer of information rules.

Who Should Attend:-

Those individuals who will gain the most from this session include discharge planning personnel, social workers, chief nursing officers; registered nurses, physician advisors, revenue integrity professionals, case managers, utilization review professionals, and compliance and legal professionals.