Dates: Tuesday, August 15
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. CT

Speaker:
Laura A. Dixon, BS, JD, RN, CPHRM

Cost: $195 to NHA members (per hospital, no charge for additional lines, recordings available up to 60 days after the webinar)

Course Curriculum
This program will cover the changes to the discharge planning standards published in February 2020. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has yet to publish revised interpretive guidelines and survey procedures to match the new regulations. The regulations apply to all hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).

The new regulations cover sections on a patient’s timely access to medical records, the discharge planning process, discharge instructions, and discharge planning requirements. This webinar will review transfers to other facilities, assessment of 30-day readmissions, caregiver rights and recommendations, reduction of factors that lead to preventable readmissions, and more.

This session will also discuss the Impact Act’s effect on hospital discharge planning, as well as the worksheet previously used to assess compliance with the CMS hospital Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for discharge planning. Although no longer used, the worksheet is available as an excellent self-assessment tool. Finally, the webinar will cover 1335 waivers regarding discharge planning that CMS issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every hospital that accepts Medicare and Medicaid must comply with the CMS discharge planning guidelines, and these standards must be followed for all patients.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, participants should be able to:

· Recite that CMS has revised the discharge planning requirements that apply to all hospitals and critical access hospitals.

· Recall that patients and physicians can request a discharge planning evaluation.

· Discuss that information about the hospitalization must be provided to the physician or provider before the first post-hospital visit.

· Describe that the patient has a right to timely medical records that should include a copy of their discharge plan.

Speaker Bio:

Laura A. Dixon most recently served as the director of risk management and patient safety for the Colorado Region of Kaiser Permanente. Prior to joining Kaiser, she served as the director, facility patient safety and risk management and operations for COPIC from 2014 to 2020. In her role, Ms. Dixon provided patient safety and risk management consultation and training to facilities, practitioners, and staff in multiple states.

Ms. Dixon has more than 20 years of clinical experience in acute care facilities, including critical care, coronary care, peri-operative services, and pain management. Prior to joining COPIC, she served as the director, Western region, patient safety and risk management for The Doctors Company in Napa, California. In this capacity, she provided patient safety and risk management consultation to the physicians and staff for the western United States

As a registered nurse and attorney, Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Regis University, RECEP of Denver, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Drake University College of Law, Des Moines, Iowa, and a Registered Nurse Diploma from Saint Luke’s School Professional Nursing, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado and California.

This speaker has no real or perceived conflicts of interest that relate to this presentation.