April 2008 - Posts

Part 4: Reimbursement of Costs…ALL Costs!
April 29, 2008 1:21 PM by Carol Kleinman

When nurses begin to learn about the difference between cost for an item and the total cost for everything involved in supplying the item they are often upset to learn that there indeed may be a charge of $12 for a simple aspirin . Most see it as health Read More...

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Part 3: Fiscal reality and length of stay
April 18, 2008 12:07 PM by Carol Kleinman

As I reflect upon the massive changes in health care in the last couple of decades, one of the most profound relates to our focus on length of stay and the ever-present need to reduce hospitals stays until they are so short I wonder sometimes how patients Read More...

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Part 2: Prospective Payment Systems: An Historical View
April 14, 2008 12:58 PM by Carol Kleinman

What happens with Prospective Payment Systems (PPS) is that we are paid a flat rate for each Diagnostic Related Group (DRG), rates that were determined after extensive research into the cost of treatment for specific diagnoses. What the PPS system did Read More...

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Part 1: Sharing Financial Information with Staff
April 14, 2008 12:53 PM by Carol Kleinman

One of my pet issues relates to the level of knowledge of nurse managers and administrators about financial operations. I even believe strongly in the importance of beginning to educate staff nurses in the fiscal realities of health care operations! I Read More...

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