Pre-Encounter Calls Put Registration Times Under Two Minutes
Ninety percent of all surgical patients at Albany (NY) Medical Center receive a pre-encounter phone call. This has significantly decreased wait times, Brenda Pascarella, CHAM, associate director of patient access, reports.
“If we capture the demographic and insurance information, and even collect the financial obligation over the phone, then check in takes significantly less time,” she explains.
The only thing left for most patients on the date of service is signing the consent and other regulatory forms. “This brings the registration time from about seven to eight minutes down to two minutes,” Pascarella says.
Here, patient access leaders share some other approaches for reducing registration wait times:
- A group of surgical patients are registered earlier in the morning.
The bulk of first-round surgical cases arrive all at once. Now, the registration start time begins 30 minutes earlier. By the time the clinical staff is ready to take patients back, about eight already have been registered, hastening the process. “This keeps us ahead of the clinical team who is ready to prep the patients for surgery,” Pascarella notes.
- Patient access consults with clinical leaders to develop with process changes.
“We collaborate to solve any issues that may arise,” Pascarella says. Recently, patient access worked with clinicians to create a workflow for moving the first-round surgical patients through check in as quickly as possible.
“This avoids delays in surgery start times,” Pascarella adds.
- Registrars use electronic tools to speed insurance verification and copay collection.
“We are currently streamlining our registration process by maximizing use of electronic health records to their full capacity. This involves ongoing training for our staff by the EHR vendor,” David Rodriguez, director of patient access at Nyack (NY) Hospital, reports.
Staff also train to capture as much information as possible during the initial registration.
“This avoids duplication at recurring visits,” Rodriguez adds.
- Registrars complete a lot of behind-the-scenes preparation prior to the patient’s arrival.
This makes registration much smoother, according to Pollie Martinez, director of operations for patient access at Harris Health in Houston.
“We verify insurance in advance, and call patients to let them know what they will be responsible for at the point of service,” she says.
Electronic signatures have replaced paper forms. “In addition, in as many areas as possible, we have centralized registration operations,” Martinez notes. “This allows for a more efficient registration flow.”
The biggest hold up at Harris Health? Patients who show up without insurance cards or photo identification.
“We are a safety net hospital, so insurance is new to many of our patients,” Martinez explains.
SOURCES
- Pollie Martinez, Director, Operations, Patient Access, Harris Health, Houston. Phone: (713) 566-6628. Email: [email protected].
- Brenda Pascarella, CHAM, Associate Director, Patient Access, Albany (NY) Medical Center. Phone: (518) 262-4559. Fax: (518) 262-8206. Email: [email protected].
- David Rodriguez, Director, Patient Access, Nyack (NY) Hospital. Phone: (845) 348-3090. Email: [email protected].
Patient access leaders share some other approaches for reducing registration wait times.
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