-
Managing a patient's compromised airway involves preparing for the possibility of not being able to complete the intubation procedure in a timely manner. To avoid ongoing hypoxia and hypercapnea, management should include being ready to use alternative or "rescue" methods, including a surgical airway.
-
This story is Part 1 of a two-part series on liability risks of boarding admitted patients in the ED. This month, we'll report on liability risks of holding admitted patients in ED hallways.
-
If your hospital is like most, patients admitted through the emergency department are being held, possibly in hallways, for hours and even days. It's a complicated problem that the patient access department isn't responsible for and can't control. Still, you bear the brunt of the poor customer service scores that result from this situation.
-
After an electronic ordering process was implemented at Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System in Marriottsville, MD, the central scheduling department stopped "pulling their hair out" looking for misplaced or inaccurate orders.
-
Allowing patients the option of pre-registering online is good for patient satisfaction and also frees up patient access staff for those who prefer to speak with a representative.
-
A career ladder has helped the patient access department at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, SC, to "build our own leaders," says Charlene B. Cathcart, CHAM, director of admissions and registration.
-
-
Patient access staff will have to get used to a change for Medicare patients, with the new Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN) form now used for all situations where Medicare payment is expected to be denied. The form, implemented by the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), becomes mandatory March 1, 2009.
-
When administrators at Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville asked his opinion about how they could increase point-of-service (POS) collections, Tim Carney, manager of outpatient financial arrangements, told them in no uncertain terms that decentralization was the key.
-
In today's down economy, increasing upfront collections is even more important for patient access departments, but it's getting harder as many patients are struggling to make ends meet, at the same time that their copays, deductibles, and co-insurances are becoming more expensive.