When questions arise, physician advisors are there with the answers.

Abstract

DCH Health System's seven part-time physician advisors perform a variety of tasks to help ensure that the hospitals are appropriately reimbursed and that patients move smoothly through the continuum of care. They work with care managers on patient status and also assist with documentation, writing medical necessity appeals, resource utilization, and patient throughput. They attend daily transition rounds with the nurses, care managers, and social workers, and participate in weekly long-stay rounds and capacity rounds in the ICU and acute cardiac care. The health system brought in experts to educate the physician advisors, sent them to educational symposia, and pays for membership in professional organizations.