An Entirely New Paradigm for Post-Acute Health Care Management

The managers of residential care facilities we work with everyday report that the residential care and post-acute health care industry is changing at an alarming rate. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has shifted its focus away from simply measuring volume, toward a pay-for-performance system focused on value and quality. The implications of this shift in payment processing and compliance procedures for management in post-acute care, nursing homes, and hospice facilities are vast, complex, and daunting. Managers are scrambling to measure quality outcomes, improve compliance, and emphasize the customer experience throughout their organizations.

The sharing of information has reached a break-neck pace.  There are no constants in how we collect and share information.  Every day, new ways to manage information are developed, found and employed by agencies.  The more sophisticated ones have embraced the latest technologies to make their agency better.  Yet, many agencies cling to a traditional model of case management, using paper as their foundation for collecting data, observing trends and assessing outcomes. 

How important is it that you get paid for the services you deliver - promptly?  What does that mean for how you manage cash flow?  How does a promptly paid invoice help your third party service providers?

Digging deeper - how quickly can you get an invoice out after services have been delivered?

In this first blog of 2016 I thought we might take a moment to view the overall nonprofit fundraising landscape. I know that your strategic plan and operating plan have already been written, but I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to do your first edit. The best plans are living documents always awaiting amendment.

As 2015 comes to an end, we've taken the time to reflect on the ups, downs and things we've learned along the way. We can only hope that we've helped you have a successful 2015 - and we look forward to serving you in 2016.

A grandfather and his grandson are having breakfast when the grandfather asks his grandson to hand him the newspaper.  The grandson looks up from his IPad and says “Grandpa, this is the 21st century.  We have electronic gadgets that are 100 times better than a crummy newspaper.  For instance, with my IPad here I can look at 10 different news sources in that many minutes and get 100 times more information than a paper. Here,” he says, handing his IPad to his grandfather, “I already pulled up Fox news for you.”  Let me tell you, that fly never knew what hit it.

We recognize how tough it is to run a successful agency.  We have such admiration for you and the work you do to help our society's most vulnerable children and families.  It is why we've dedicated a good part of our lives to serving you, your social workers and your agency.  However, we not only strive to bring you world-class software solutions, but useful information that can help in other areas, as well. 

The mysterious disorder once known simply as Autism has recently been diagnosed as a spectrum of mental disorders that run from high to low functioning called, ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Realizing that ASD is both incurable and highly varied in intensity, psychiatry has begun to focus on the positive as well as the negative mental functions that patients with ASD display. They realize that Autism is not mental illness in the strictest sense so much as the heightened focus of certain parts of the brain.

For many case workers and service providers – managing technology can be challenging. Good technology can improve data collection, process workflow and reporting. However, finding and implementing the right system is often difficult. At the end of the day, how do you know what features to look for in a great case management application? Are those features “out of the box” or something you’ll need to incorporate based on your requirements?

After reading the recipe I looked up at this public relations legend and said, “Of course - seems obvious when you put it like that”.  Core Values and walking the walk seems to be more attractive to donors than a bunch of advertising.