HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: ScrippsHealth Streamlines Units
ScrippsHealth in San Diego is set to launch "Trio," a new project incorporating three distinct hospital units into one, streamlined department to speed patient care decisions. The hospital's access management, information management and case management units will all fall under the new Trio unit, explained Jack Duffy, corporate director of patient financial services. "There is a filtering process that needs to begin as soon as you know a patient is coming in," said Duffy. "Otherwise, you're finding out on the day a patient should clinically leave that you're clueless as to where you can send them." Duffy said merging the departments offers the advantage of "reduc[ing] the incidence of re-interviewing patients," helping to "identify key clinical indicators of future care" and signalling the type of "insurance coverage and benefit design to support that care." He explained, "You need to know not only that the patient has a skilled nursing facility benefit, you need to know which patients have contracts with us." He said, "If you can't have the point- of-service information flow very nicely, the whole concept of working with physicians to enhance the care design falls apart" (Hospital Access Management, 2/99 issue).
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