Core Measures

[MLE164]

I am a float medsurg nurse. I was recently put on light duty due to surgery and was placed in Outcomes Management for light duty. I have had my eyes opened to a world behind the scenes in the hospitals which work to keep the patients safe and the hospitals compliant which results in reimbursement. It is somewhat of a joke that Outcomes Management in our hospital are a pain in the butt to the floor nurses. We try to be nice and helpful, but in the end, our job is to ensure that proper documentation is completed on vaccinations, pain, and VTE prophylaxis. I never appreciated these things as a floor nurse. Of course I always did my best to document as completely and thoroughly as possible, but what I didn't realize was that if certain documentation wasn't completed within particular time frames, the core measures are failed for the hospital. Core measures are directly linked to hospital reimbursement, and if you want to look at the big picture, this means our wages and raises depend upon things like this as well. I had no idea how much time is spent on spread sheets, chart audits and phone calls back and forth to the floor nurses to ensure that complete compliance was met during a patient stay. I just thought I would share this because it occurred to me that as a new grad, this would have been a great part of orientation. It would have allowed me to know the seriousness of completing things timely and completely. Even if it meant digging for information or calling POA's for information to help my hospital out.

[KWILDS]

Yesssssss! I work for a rural medical group and I am the geek that pulls those numbers. Once in a while, I get a nurse to help me in the office and it is so eye-opening for them to see that the details matter! I am curious how you envision it being included into orientation. We introduce the concept in orientation, but I am always open to feedback on how to make this concept more relevant to those working the clinic floor.

[zzisaac]

I am a nursing educator and teach a senior level nursing course called "quality and safety for nurses". I have the students actually perform a quality improvement project, determined by the facilities (so not a "change project") and it usually always requires some kind of abstracting. This has been so helpful to the students, they are able to use this as part of job interviews, as well as get a better understanding of the significance of thorough documentation.

[JefferyKieth]

I too never really consider the impact of my documentation on the facility, I was wrapped up in patient care. But my eyes were opened when I started my data abstraction and analysis position. Your work not only impacts patient care, but nursing work, as well as hospital reimbursement. Data is reported not only to CMS but also TJC and many non-governmental agencies like leapfrog, hospital compare, hospital associations, state organizations, etc.