Hospital Access Management – December 1, 2009
December 1, 2009
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Toot your own horn to command long-overdue respect for access
Patient access often is the recipient of all kinds of negative feedback - from patients, other departments, and even senior leaders. It's up to you to get the word out about your department's successes. -
Hiring new staff? Think carefully, then think again
With most hospitals looking more closely than ever at their bottom lines, the last thing that patient access needs is high turnover. Not everyone is cut out for the access department, however. It's a lot easier to hire correctly than to try to work with - or in extreme cases, fire - a person who's not right for the job. -
Take these steps if a staff person isn't measuring up
With all the data typically collected by access departments on individual staff members these days, it's easy enough to tell if an employee isn't up to par. But what action should you take, if you see that an individual's accuracy, collections, or patient satisfaction data are poor? -
Electronic systems verify coverage on the spot
A patient hands you an insurance card with multiple numbers, numbers that are next to impossible to locate, or no numbers at all. -
Are physician offices saying great things about access?
Patient access managers worry a lot about how satisfied patients are with their services, but physician offices are another type of "customer" that requires attention. -
Quell worries about H1N1, other contagious illnesses
When you think of hospital staff on the "front lines" during a flu epidemic, emergency department and other clinical staff probably come to mind. Don't forget that patient access staff also are in close contact with patients, many of whom have contagious illnesses including H1N1. -
Collect stories from staff, show what they really do
When she stepped into a new role as a patient access manager at Menasha, WI-based Affinity Health System, Jackie Mitchler says she was amazed at the amount of skills and information that all of her staff had to know and learn.