Provide education on new access role
Provide education on new access role
Invite others to observe your staff
Many hospital associates believe that registration staff simply sit at their desk and greet patients, reports Barbara Blum, director of access, admitting, and registration at MedStar Health in Columbia, MD. "They have no idea what the registration staff's responsibilities include," Blum says.
Other departments might not realize that registration is a big part of the hospital's revenue cycle, for example, or that staff work with more than 100 insurance plans.
"A goal is to verify upfront that the insurance is active. This allows a clean bill," says Blum. "Registration is a big part of upfront collections. If not collected upfront, it can result in bad debt."
Staff members in other hospital areas don't acknowledge the work of patient access because it's not understood, says Blum, but they are quick to blame access staff for mistakes they didn't make. "If there are any problems incorrect labeling, an incorrect name in other systems, or delays in patient care the assumption it is a registration error," says Blum. "This results in poor employee satisfaction and morale."
Blum says staff in other areas might offer to help when the registration system goes down with the attitude, "What could be so hard? Your staff are just clerks." To this, Blum responds, "It is not clerical data entry. You would need knowledge of insurance and the registration system."
Give presentations
Blum recommends giving a short presentation at a monthly manager's meeting on one of these topics:
data captured on upfront copay collection for self-pay patients;
your department's progress toward a goal of completing a registration within a certain number of minutes;
the number of patients registered in an hour;
claims denials due to lack of authorizations.
Blum suggests inviting managers to spend some time in the emergency department or outpatient registration areas. "In some areas, access sees over 100 patients in an eight-hour period," she says. "They will see that we are still smiling, collecting copays, verifying insurance, and identifying patients."
Inform others that you deal with every aspect of the hospital system, from data entry to diagnosis codes to complex financial problems, advises April C. Robinson, MBA, MHA, patient access manager at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, SC. "We are the first department that meets the patients upon their arrival at our facilities," she says. "We are also the first and last link in the revenue cycle chain for the hospital system."
Robinson suggests creating an interdepartmental team with leaders and staff members from nursing, the medical staff, patient access, pre-registration, patient billing, environmental services, and any department that is a part of patient care.
"This team should be tasked with the goal of learning about the job functions of each department," she says. "Everyone can learn how to fully utilize all talents, to provide the ultimate patient care experience."
Sources
To obtain more information on educating members of other departments on the role of patient access, contact the following persons:
Barbara Blum, Director of Access/Admitting/Registration, MedStar Health, Columbia, MD. Phone: (410) 554-2204. Fax: (410) 554-2910. E-mail: [email protected].
April C. Robinson, MBA, MHA, Patient Access Manager, Palmetto Health Richland, Columbia, SC. Phone: (803) 434-5140. Fax: (803) 434-1481. E-mail: april.robinson@ palmettohealth.org.
Many hospital associates believe that registration staff simply sit at their desk and greet patients, reports Barbara Blum, director of access, admitting, and registration at MedStar Health in Columbia, MD. "They have no idea what the registration staff's responsibilities include," Blum says.Subscribe Now for Access
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