Acuity Staffing Validation with Patient Assessments and Audits

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Acuity Staffing Validation with Patient Assessments and Audits

Note: Your Staff Manager configuration may not include this optional application. To add this application to your configuration, contact your Clinical Consultant or Client Advocate.

You can set a flag in the Outcomes-Driven Acuity database to show the staffing validation tool on the patient assessment and the patient assessment audit pages. Available options are Staffing Ratios and Patient Type.

When you select Staffing Ratios, you can enter the expected ratio for licensed and unlicensed personnel to facilitate the validation process during the implementation of Outcomes-Driven Acuity and is required for clients who rely on a Clinical Documentation import to populate Outcomes-Driven Acuity for validation.
When you select Patient Type, you can identify the patient type based on the amount of care the patient needs compared to the average patient on the unit. The Patient Type options are Very Low, Lower than Average, Average, Higher than Average, and Very High.

The database flag is turned off by the Clinical Consultant once staffing validation is complete, at which point the Acuity pages no longer display the staffing validation tool.

During the Acuity validation process, the condition of the patient is correlated to the acuity level generated from the Outcome Assessment and to the target staffing associated with the acuity level. The validation report displays the acuity level for each patient and the staffing associated with the acuity ranges for each location. The addition of the expected staffing ratio on the patient assessment and patient assessment audit pages help ensure the staffing associated with each level is valid.

Entering Patient Type

At the time of the outcome assessment or audit, you must:

Complete the assessment as outlined in Completing a Patient Assessment by Direct Entry or complete the audit as outlined in Completing a Patient Acuity Assessment Audit.
Enter the patient type by clicking the appropriate button near the top of the page: Very Low, Low Avg, Avg, High Avg, and Very High.

Entering Staffing Ratios

At the time of the outcome assessment or audit, you must:

Complete the assessment as outlined in Completing a Patient Assessment by Direct Entry or complete the audit as outlined in Completing a Patient Acuity Assessment Audit.
Enter the staffing ratios expected for the patient in the three skill boxes near the top of the page (RN, LPN/LVN, and UAP). You must enter a value for each skill displayed, and 0.0 is a valid entry. For example, 1:2 equals 1 nurse to 2 patients; 1:0.5 equals 2 nurses to 1 patient.

If in use, Clairvia Web includes staffing ratios on the Patient Assessment Printable View and the Patient Assessment Audit Printable View. The staffing ratios may be displayed either as blank placeholders or as recorded values, depending on whether you have completed the assessment or the audit.

How the Staffing Validation Tools Affect the Acuity Assessment Buttons

When a profile is set to display either patient types or staffing ratios on the patient assessment page, the effect on the buttons on the page are as follows:

Type of Assessment	User Action	Effect on Buttons
Previously completed	Enters a value for all staffing ratios or selects a patient type (no edits to outcome selections)	Save (Same as Last) unavailable Save (Complete) available Save (Finish Later) available Cancel available
Previously completed	Enters a value for all staffing ratios or selects a patient type and edits one or more outcome selections	Save (Same as Last) unavailable Save (Complete) available if all outcomes have a Likert rating selected and ratios are complete or a patient type has been selected Cancel available
Previously completed	All staffing ratios blank or no patient type selected; edits one or more outcome selections	Save (Same as Last) unavailable Save (Finish Later) available Save (Complete) available if all outcomes have a Likert rating selected and ratios are complete or a patient type is selected Cancel available
New or Incomplete Assessment	Selects Likert rating for all outcomes; one or more staffing ratios blank or patient type is blank	Save (Finish Later) available Cancel available Assessment is incomplete until all outcomes and all three staffing ratios are completed or a patient type is selected.
New or Incomplete Assessment	Selects Likert rating for some outcomes; all three staffing ratios are not blank or patient type is selected	Save (Finish Later) available Cancel available

When a profile is set to display staffing ratios or patient type on the patient assessment audit page, the effect on the buttons on the page are as follows:

Type of Assessment	User Action	Effect on Buttons
New Audit Assessment	Selects Likert rating for all outcomes; one or more staffing ratios or patient type is blank	Cancel available Save (Complete) is unavailable until all outcomes and all three staffing ratios are completed or a patient type is selected.