Hospital Access Management – August 1, 2010
August 1, 2010
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Make needless claims denials a thing of the past with staff involvement
Too many claims denials lead to loss of revenue and unhappy administrators two things no patient access department can afford, especially in this economy.Patients are satisfied with ED 'exit process'
Emergency departments across the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, NY, care for hundreds of thousands of patient each year who are treated and released without being admitted to the hospital.With claims denial tools, look before you leap
Is your patient access department considering investing in software to decrease and manage claims denials? If so, compliance and customer service must be considered, says Katherine H. Murphy, vice president of access solutions at Nebo Systems, a division of Passport Health Communications in Franklin, TN.Have staff gotten their CHAM or CHAA?
Some front-end staff, unfortunately, view your department as a revolving door or jumping-off point. However, others choose to make a long, fruitful career for themselves in the field of patient access.Maximize benefits of access career ladders
Career ladders can be an excellent way to improve retention in your patient access department. However, there are some pitfalls to avoid. "Career ladders must be current and relevant to the job," says Holly Hiryak, MNSc, RN, CHAM, director of hospital admissions and access services at University Hospital of Arkansas in Little Rock. "There may be complacency if [employees] are not goal-driven with measurable roles and responsibilities."Put a stop to chronic complaints from staff
At one time or another, every patient access manager has come across a staff person who habitually complains, spreading negativity to other employees.Can you reach patients by cell, text, e-mail?
In the past, when they needed contact information for patients, registrars typically obtained an address and home telephone number and their job was done. But these days, many patients would rather be reached on their cell phone or via e-mail or text messages.Take steps to ward off ID fraud on the front end
Undocumented individuals may have a single Social Security card and pass it around to several people. In other cases, an electronic medical record may describe a patient of a different age or gender than the person standing before you.For patients, fraud has dangerous implications
If identity fraud occurs, there are a number of negative repercussions for patient access, but this is also true for patients.