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Case management's role in improving patient flow

Patient Access Weekly Advisor, September 12, 2007

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In addition to the larger system changes implemented at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA., to address patient flow, the case management team assisted by focusing on a few process changes, says Susan Lawrence, MS, CMAC, administrator of the care continuum department.

Lawrence was instrumental in bringing the Extended Care Information Network (ECIN), an Internet-based discharge referral program, to Leigh Valley. The ECIN allows case managers to send an automated referral to dozens of nursing homes with a click of the mouse, says Lawrence.

"Our case managers used to call postacute providers on the phone to see if they had a bed, and if they did not, they'd move on to the next place," says Lawrence. "Now [case managers] can send out certain demographic information on a patient, and if one provider cannot accept a patient, they can quickly send the same request to other agencies. They don't have to recreate the request which saves lots of time and improves flow."

The other significant change within the department was the creation of the complex case manager position . . . This position was developed to deal with patients with an extremely long length of stay-e.g., patients who require guardianship, insurance, or those with intense social issues, says Lawrence.

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