Source: Washington Post

According to a study from Robert Half International, four in ten professionals are likely to look for a new job in the current recession and another study from Miles LeHane Cos.-OI Partners indicates that two thirds of employers are aware of this and concerned about losing good managers.

In light of these statistics, The Washington Post article offers advice to job seekers on how to conduct their job search discretely.  Here are some of the main tips:

1. Dress Code: If you normally dress casually, wearing a suit one day before an interview is a major red flag.  Try to stop somewhere to change into your suit before the interview.  Don’t show up to work in your interview clothes.

2. Keep a Secret: Unless you are part of a large scale downsizing, keep your job search under wraps with colleagues.  Keep your job search under wraps.

3. Create a Profile on LinkedIn: Recruiters, like Pathway Medical, are always searching LinkedIn for top talent.  Placing your profile on LinkedIn is a great way to catch the attention of employers with job openings that fit your skills and experience.  Groups on LinkedIn, like Nursing Beyond the Bedside, are another great way to network with peers and discretely uncover job opportunities.

For more details you can read the complete article from The Washington Post at: In tough economic times, best to look for a new job quietly

Source:  Fierce Healthcare

A recent article from Fierce Healthcare highlights how one healthcare system uses a team approach toward reducing denials.  The case study examines a three-hospital healthcare system that had a dramatic improvement in results from 2008 to 2010 after implementing effective team approach steps.

Here are the highlights:

2008

• 77 days in accounts receivable on average
• Low cash on hand
• 99% percent of the hospital’s claims rejected on the first try

2010

• 37 days in accounts receivable on average
• Tripled cash on hand
• 3% denied claims on first try

Some of the steps they took to achieve these results:

• Counting errors
• Tweaking health information system
• Adding new scrubbing software
• Training revenue-cycle staff
• Educating the clinical team

For details of this remarkable case study visit Fierce Healthcare: Revenue-cycle case study: Reducing denials requires team approach

What steps does your healthcare organization take to help reduce denials?
Include your response in the “Leave a Reply” section.

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released a site that keeps track of nursing statistics including:

• How many nurses are at work today
• Nurses’ educational background
• Diversity of the nursing population
• Nurse employment trends
• Size of the nursing gap now and in the future
• and more..

The information is presented in a fact sheet and several slides on a site from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that will be updated periodically to incorporate new government employment data and projections.

For the complete set of nurse statistics and data visit:
Nurse Numbers Tell the Tale: New RWJF fact sheet and slideshow put recent data on nursing workforce in meaningful context.

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What  sources for nurse statistics have you found useful? Please share in the leave a reply section below.

At Pathway Medical we are constantly searching for news and information that is most interesting to the case managers,  non-bedside nurses and healthcare employers we work with.  Check out this month’s Top Nursing and Healthcare Headlines; giving you insight into news trending in popularity among your nursing and healthcare peers.

__________________

Click on the headline for the complete story.

Tips on becoming a Certified Case Manager (CCM)
One of the most popular articles this month is a post from a while back.  Hundreds of nurses and healthcare employers have been reading this article that covers tips and suggestions for nurse case managers seeking the certified case manager (CCM) designation. - Pathway Medical

Case manager’s dilemma during electronic health record (EHR) implementation
Learn about a major limitation that surfaced a week after an EHR implementation “go-live” date.   One case manager experienced an unexpected challenge. - HCPro

Nurse Hiring Guide: A guide to hiring non-bedside nurses for hospitals, managed care and other healthcare organizations
If you work for a hospital, managed care or other healthcare organization and you’re looking to attract top nursing talent in case management, utilization review, appeals, pre-certification, quality improvement, HEDIS, CDI and other non-bedside nursing professionals, check out the Nurse Hiring Guide to help you find the best nurses. - Pathway Medical

Top tips to enhance case management communication
A key competency case managers must be proficient in is being an effective communicator. This is a challenge as case managers communicate with a number of people and professionals on a daily basis. In addition, a good deal of communication is telephonic, which presents its own set of challenges. Follow these tips for best-practices in case management communication. - Case In Point

Software to help nurse case managers simplify medical jargon for patients
A new federal program called the Health Literacy Action Plan is promoting simplified language nationwide. And some health insurers, doctors’ practices and hospitals have begun using specialized software that scans documents looking for hard-to-understand words and phrases and suggests plain-English replacements. Find out how you can help your patients decipher the medical jargon so that they receive better care. - Wall Street Journal

Patients who e-mail with doctors see health improvements
Patients with diabetes or hypertension or both who communicated with their doctors via e-mail got better care and better health outcomes.  Learn more about the results from this new research. - USA Today

100 blog posts that will make you a better nurse
No one starts off their profession being perfect at everything they do. It takes time to learn the ropes and often years of hard work to truly get the hang of everything. No matter where you are in your career as a nurse, there’s likely an aspect of your job that you could work on improving. Here are some blog posts to guide you towards a brighter, more successful career in nursing and help you be the best nurse you can be. - NursingSchools.net

Evidence-based care poorly understood by patients
Only 1 in 3 patients said a physician had discussed what research showed about the best way to manage treatment. – American Medical News

Free networking group just for non-bedside and non-clinical nurses
If you have questions about nurse case management or non-bedside nursing ask your peers in a new LinkedIn Group for nurses working in non-bedside or non-clinical jobs.  Join over 125 nurses across the country that share your interest in non-bedside nursing where you can ask questions, share information and find great career tips and opportunities.  - Pathway Medical

Patients receiving email notes from dr visit serve as helpful reminders for preventative care
Check out this interesting story of a patient who finds that participating in email notifications from his physician reminds him to follow up on pre-cancerous skin condition that he would have forgotten about otherwise. - e-patients.net

Do you have an article that you would like to share with the nurse case management an non-bedside nursing community?  Please share it in the “Leave a Reply” section below.

Source: United States Department of Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor, in conjunction with EBSA, the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) and the Center for American Nurses, is sponsoring a free retirement planning web seminar for nurses.

Thursday, July 29, 2010
at 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Register Here

“Planning for a secure retirement can be challenging for women. Women are twice as likely as men to live in or near poverty in old age, and many women who were never poor during their working years, will find themselves struggling to get by in retirement. The time to start planning for these years is now.

Here is one simple way to get you on the road to financial security: Join us as we talk about ways to increase your financial fitness and save for retirement, including making the most of employer-based retirement savings plans. This webcast will also cover some investment basics and how to put your savings to work.”

This free Webinar is Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 2:00 PM EDT.

Click here to register for Planning for Retirement: A Guide for Nurses and Other Busy Women

Source: HealthLeaders Media

Nurses are usually promoted to managerial positions for being excellent clinicians, critical thinkers and great communicators, but a recent HealthLeaders Media article points out that many new nurse managers are lacking some essential managerial skills.

Nurses often have little training and preparation for the new managerial responsibilities including finance, budgeting, quality improvement, patient safety concerns and disgruntled employees.  The HealthLeaders Media article, authored by Rebecca Hendren, points out six key principals for hospitals and healthcare organizations to help nurses adjust to their new management roles:

1. Have realistic expectations

2. Provide time for orientation

3. Plan for the first 30 days

4. Offer manager support

5. Establish leadership principles / training

6. Assign a mentor

Read the full article from HealthLeaders Media at Six Steps to Ensure New Nurse Manager Success.

For additional information on the subject of nurse management here’s another informative article from Nursing Management:  The Makings of a Good Nurse Manager.

Source: CNN Health

Moving from bedside nursing into case management, utilization review, quality, appeals or other non-bedside nursing jobs may have quite an impact on your health.  The transition from being on your feet all day to a desk job can be significant for some nurses.

This CNN Health article offers advice to help you combat the aches and pains that come with moving to a desk job.

Read the full story at CNN Health.

Source: Health Leaders Media

HealthLeaders Media just released “HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey 2010.”

“The report is based on seven concurrent surveys sent to healthcare leaders in seven segments across the industry: CEO, finance, technology, physician, health plan, marketing, and quality leaders. In addition, data has been extracted based on community and rural status. The surveys included some common questions for all respondents and some questions directed to leaders in specific segments.”

Here are some of the highlighted findings:

49% Surveyed said the nursing shortage will negatively impact their organization in the next three years
- Overall Cross-Sector Survey

54% respondents say that patient feedback is the best source for process improvement

Majority of respondents (65.33%) said that quality and patient safety is among their top three priorities for the next three years.
- Quality Leaders Survey

30% respondents say that revenue is a major consideration when ordering tests or procedures.
-Physician Leaders Survey

You can find the complete set of studies and results from HealthLeaders Media at Healthcare Leaders Industry Survey 2010.

Source: Dorland Health

If you weren’t able to make it to the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) annual conference this week, you’re in luck.  The editorial team of “Case in Point” magazine, published by Dorland Health, will be covering the event.  Their goal to is inform, educate and motivate nurses to concentrate on professional development.

Many of the sessions presented this week will be available on the CMSA website over the next few months in the educational library. This will allow you to experience the program and obtain continuing education credits at your own pace.

Click on this link to the Dorland Health website to follow the five-day coverage: Five-Day Coverage of the Case Management Society of America Annual Conference

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds that, “About 40 percent of patients who sought acute hospital care from 2006–2007… made multiple visits to the hospital, for an IP stay or ED visit, during the two-year period.”

The AHRQ study is unique because, “Most readmission studies only report information on patients who have multiple hospital IP stays; they exclude patients who sought care in the ED. “  This study includes, “patients who accessed hospital care in either or both acute care settings (IP and/or ED) over the two-year period.” By including this group the AHRQ study found an “increased rate of multiple visits by more than a third” of patients; ranging “from an average of 1.5 to 2.1 acute care hospital visits per patient.”

Report Highlights:

• Two out of every five patients who sought acute hospital care (either an inpatient stay or an emergency department visit) from 2006–2007 in the selected states made multiple visits to the hospital during the two-year period.
• More than a quarter of patients with an inpatient (IP) hospital stay in 2006–2007 in the selected states had multiple inpatient hospitalizations during the two-year period.
• Factoring in ED visits increased the rate of multiple visits by more than a third, from an average of 1.5 IP readmissions to 2.1 hospital visits per patient.
• Medicare patients had the highest IP readmission rates (1.9 visits per Medicare patient) while Medicaid patients had the highest ED revisit rates (2.5 visits per Medicaid patient).
• Looking across both IP and ED settings, patients living in the poorest communities had 26.5 percent higher hospital revisit rates compared to patients from the wealthiest areas: 2.2 versus 1.8 visits per patient, respectively.
• Accounting for ED visits increased the percentage of patients seeking repeat hospital care for asthma (31.3 percent increase), uncomplicated diabetes (22.8 percent increase) and high blood pressure (20.9 percent increase).

Click this link from the AHRQ to view the complete 10 Page PDF report at:
Hospital Readmissions and Multiple Emergency Department Visits