A new hospital staffing law begins phasing into effect on June 1. We know there are lots of questions about what this will mean for daily work and operations. We have a project team dedicated to planning for changes as we work to understand the impacts, as well as to communication.
Our guiding principles are 1) what is best for our patients, 2) what works best for staff and 3) what is financially sustainable for our community.
How will the new law affect providers? Level of care is an essential component of the change. In the spirit of our Lean management culture, we are optimizing our level of care system review throughout the care continuum. Currently, our baseline data shows we have a greater number of intermediate level patients than our peers and an internal review showed 28% accuracy per InterQual.
We recognize the important role providers play in leading the appropriate level of care for our patients. Over the next few weeks, nurses will be reviewing charts of 40 to 60 intermediate level patients per day and if they have a recommendation to change the level of care, they will be reaching out over secure chat to the attending provider and RN to share that recommendation. Charge nurses will review the remainder of the charts.
The final authority in level of care decisions is the Licensed Independent Practitioner.
Questions or feedback? Email hospitalstaffing@salemhealth.org. For those who’d like a deep dive, here’s a link to ORS 441.