Care Facilitation Division prepares for December Go-Live

Preparation is well underway to fully implement the Care Facilitation Division on all nursing units toward the end of this year. To date, there have been numerous accomplishments in the major focus areas of this initiative: Departmental Operations, Patient Care Coordination, Activities at Patient Access Points, Revenue Cycle Related Activities, Physician Integration and Compliance Management. The division is being led by Gregory Oliver, administrative director, Care Facilitation, and Nancy Whalley, director, Care Coordination.

Major achievements to note thus far include the following:

• Developed an updated organization chart, staffing plan and job descriptions for the new division
• Hosted long stay meetings and supported the discharge of several long stay patients
• Updated the admission screening process
• Implemented use of white boards for patient communication
• Transitioned to nursing unit based assignments
• Successful recruiting and hiring of new staff members
• Provided formal education and training to Care Facilitation staff on the new division

Once the new streamlined division is fully in place, a more proactive and personalized approach to patient care will be utilized to improve the overall patient and clinician experience. In addition to promoting patient satisfaction, this initiative will improve GRHealth’s financial results by a significant amount via enhancements in discharge planning and patient throughput, decreases in operational spending and a more efficient use of available technology.

A key aspect of the division is the redefining of current positions and the introduction of new roles. Examples of these changes include the following:

• Case manager role to include care coordination, medical necessity and managing clinical milestones
• Social workers to cover complex psychosocial and post-acute arrangements
• Enhanced Care Coordinator role developed specifically for the Emergency Department
• Resource Center to be implemented to support payor relations and post-acute resource needs
  • New positions will be resource specialists, compliance coordinators and Resource Center supervisor

Each of these new/updated roles will comprise the Care Facilitation Division and will be put into place toward the end of this calendar year. In the months following the division go-live, it is expected that the benefits of this initiative will continue to improve the patient experience.