This Monday after Easter we continue our abbreviation series with another type of post hospitalization care.
This is the most common area outside of the hospital that personal injury attorneys see malpractice cases, because of the long term patient stays, low and inappropriate staffing levels, and general lack of funds.
Without further ado:
SNF- Skilled Nursing Facility
Pronounced "SNIFF" like when you have the sniffles.
A SNF is more commonly called a nursing home, and outside of the medical community you will not hear them referred to as SNF's. The reason for the term is to differentiate them from assisted living facilities (next week's abbreviation).
A SNF has nursing care (RN) around the clock even if they don't have an appropriate numbers. A SNF can take patients who are not as sick as those who need LTAC services, but still require nursing care.
As with LTAC the most common place to see or hear the abbreviation is in the case management notes or in the discharge notes and instructions.
Examples
Electronic information about admission transferred to three SNF for admission approval.
Discharge to SNF once accepted.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Abbreviation
Spring came yesterday to the northern hemisphere, and in the DC area was rung in with a last fight for winter. So with spring comes dieting because summer is just around the corner and everyone wants to look their best when wearing the least amount of clothing.
Today's abbreviation came from there. Again, a title. This is someone whom you may not want to depose in a medical malpractice case as they make recommendations but usually have very little influence in the application of their recommendations. Tomorrow I'll elaborate on their recommendations as I finally pick back up our series on pressure ulcers.
Without further ado:
RD- registered dietitian
The registered dietitian is a specially trained person who addresses the dietary needs of our clients. They make recommendations to the best diet to meet the nutritional needs of the client, including healing.
Many times they have their own section of a chart where they along with the staff that works in the dietary office comments on the status of the clients dietary needs and makes suggestions.
Examples
Debbie Dieter RD
Seen by RD recommendations reviewed and approved by MD.
These are about the only places that you see RD in the records, however frequently you see the word dietitian. The registered dietitian like the nurse has specialized training in the dietary needs of the clients they see.
Today's abbreviation came from there. Again, a title. This is someone whom you may not want to depose in a medical malpractice case as they make recommendations but usually have very little influence in the application of their recommendations. Tomorrow I'll elaborate on their recommendations as I finally pick back up our series on pressure ulcers.
Without further ado:
RD- registered dietitian
The registered dietitian is a specially trained person who addresses the dietary needs of our clients. They make recommendations to the best diet to meet the nutritional needs of the client, including healing.
Many times they have their own section of a chart where they along with the staff that works in the dietary office comments on the status of the clients dietary needs and makes suggestions.
Examples
Debbie Dieter RD
Seen by RD recommendations reviewed and approved by MD.
These are about the only places that you see RD in the records, however frequently you see the word dietitian. The registered dietitian like the nurse has specialized training in the dietary needs of the clients they see.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Abbreviations
Today we're going to look at another title. This will be the first in looking at 3 titles leading up to another longer post, where having an understanding of the individual titles will help with understanding of the healthcare system rather than a specific encounter in the medical record. I find that having an excellent understanding of the healthcare system allows the client and attorney to communicate better and the attorney achieve better outcomes for the client.
Today's abbreviation:
LTAC- Long term acute care
An LTAC is a type of hospital. When it is abbreviated it is pronounced el-tack. A long term acute care hospital is similar to a traditional acute care hospital but the patients need ongoing acute care. The patients tend to be in these hospitals for months at a time. Patients are very sick, but stable. Many places feature an OR, ICU, and other critical care needs, but they do not necessarily feature absolutely everything that is in an traditional acute care hospital, such as MRI machines, ER's and other diagnostic services. Not all long term acute care hospitals have operating rooms or intensive care units, so many times the sickest of the sick are transferred back to a traditional acute care hospital.
The most common area to see this information is in the discharge planning from an acute care hospital.
Examples
Pt. to be transferred to LTAC when cleared by surgery.
Insurance approved LTAC stay, pt. to be discharged on Thursday to LTAC.
Today's abbreviation:
LTAC- Long term acute care
An LTAC is a type of hospital. When it is abbreviated it is pronounced el-tack. A long term acute care hospital is similar to a traditional acute care hospital but the patients need ongoing acute care. The patients tend to be in these hospitals for months at a time. Patients are very sick, but stable. Many places feature an OR, ICU, and other critical care needs, but they do not necessarily feature absolutely everything that is in an traditional acute care hospital, such as MRI machines, ER's and other diagnostic services. Not all long term acute care hospitals have operating rooms or intensive care units, so many times the sickest of the sick are transferred back to a traditional acute care hospital.
The most common area to see this information is in the discharge planning from an acute care hospital.
Examples
Pt. to be transferred to LTAC when cleared by surgery.
Insurance approved LTAC stay, pt. to be discharged on Thursday to LTAC.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Abbreviation
Over the course of our lifetime we come into contact with a number of seemingly duplicate abbreviations, and today our abbreviation is one that we need to look at when examining people who provided patient care.
This abbreviation is a person's role at the institution in which they are currently employed and may change if they move to another institution or get promoted within the institution, so it is important to identify when speaking to them, that you are interested in speaking with them in that particular role because that was the role they served for the patient.
With that:
CM- case manager or case management
A key note about this abbreviation, unless it is the person's writing style to inconsistently capitalize letters, this abbreviation is always capitalized to help differentiate it from cm (centimeters).
Examples
Pt. was seen by CM staff today ahead of d/c to ensure all HH needs were addressed.
(Patient was seen by case management staff today ahead of discharge to ensure all home health needs were addressed).
Nancy Nurse RN, MSN, CM
This abbreviation is a person's role at the institution in which they are currently employed and may change if they move to another institution or get promoted within the institution, so it is important to identify when speaking to them, that you are interested in speaking with them in that particular role because that was the role they served for the patient.
With that:
CM- case manager or case management
A key note about this abbreviation, unless it is the person's writing style to inconsistently capitalize letters, this abbreviation is always capitalized to help differentiate it from cm (centimeters).
Examples
Pt. was seen by CM staff today ahead of d/c to ensure all HH needs were addressed.
(Patient was seen by case management staff today ahead of discharge to ensure all home health needs were addressed).
Nancy Nurse RN, MSN, CM
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