Rounding Best Practices
What is an interactive round?
OBBBA
What is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
Evidence based outcomes proves that this outreach patient call back model is best practice.
What is the Centralized model?
Published twice each year, this national rating assigns hospitals a letter score based on performance in preventable harm, including infections, safety practices, and patient outcomes. Frequently referenced by executives and the media, it can boost reputations—or trigger urgent quality huddles.
What is Leapfrog Safety Grade?
This tool helps track goals and performance across different areas of healthcare systems.
What is the Strategic Scorecard?
70% Once Per Stay
What is the best practice inpatient rounding goal?
TCM
What is Transitional Care Management?
All discharged patients should receive this within 24-48 hours post discharge.
What is a phone call or a SMS message?
What is the healthcare system strategic scorecard?
These must be documented clearly in the medical record to support TCM billing.
What are the patient contact, visit date, and care coordination activities?
This should be allocated to Nurse Leaders at least 1 hour per day, Monday through Friday.
What is protected rounding time?
CLABSI
What is a Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infection?
Best practice dictates this should take place within 2 hours of a patient 'raising their hand' during a discharge call or SMS.
What is a patient callback?
Established in 1965, these two federal programs provide coverage for older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals. Together, they fund over one-third of U.S. healthcare spending and shape nearly every hospital reimbursement strategy.
What are Medicare and Medicaid?
Defined by CMS and accreditation bodies, these patient-reported concerns—ranging from service issues to allegations of rights violations—must be logged, investigated, and resolved within required timeframes. Failure to manage them effectively can result in compliance findings and swift executive attention.
What are Complaints and Grievances?
This should be done within 1 hour of triggering an issue alert during a patient round.
What is service (Trust) recovery?
TEAM
What is the Transforming Episode Accountability Model?
Specific DRG, high risk, or condition-specific patients should receive this following hospital discharge.
What is a longitudinal call series?
A classification system that standardizes prospective payment to hospitals and encourages cost containment initiatives. Payment covers all charges associated with an inpatient stay from the time of admission to discharge.
What is DRG (Diagnostic Related Group)?
This is requested frequently by our customers to prove that Cipher and their rounding processes are working as designed.
What is an HCAHPS analysis?
Allows the “voice of the patient” to be heard & considers patient preferences & SDoH as essential components in the patient’s plan of care. Critical next steps are determined by what is most important to the patient & emphasizes issue resolution while incorporating DEI principles.
What is Purposeful Rounding?
HCAHPS
What is the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems?
Single star ratings that summarize quality information on important topics like readmissions and deaths after serious events. This is something we should be reviewing before getting in front of any current or net new customer.
What is CMS Star Ratings?
This upcoming CMS program launching January 1, 2026 focuses on bundled payments to improve care coordination and outcomes.
What is TEAM (Transforming Episode Accountability Model)?
These must be documented clearly in the medical record to support TCM billing.
What are the patient contact, visit date, and care coordination activities?