Hospital Access Management – September 1, 2007
September 1, 2007
View Issues
-
Self-pay patients' ability to handle bill determined at POS at Southern Regional
Putting in place technology and processes to determine the financial resources of self-pay patients at the point of service (POS) has helped increase collections, reduce bad debt, and ensure accuracy of patient identification at Southern Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Riverdale, GA, says Tracey Frederick, senior systems analyst. -
THR continues transition to full-service call center
Patient access specialists at Texas Health Resources (THR) hospitals are learning their job "as it was meant to be learned," one of the many positive outcomes related to implementation of a centralized intake center at the Arlington-based health system, says the center's director, Jeff Ferrell. -
Be 'comfortable, creative' when hiring front-line staff
While the classic patient access mantra has become "garbage in, garbage out," managers themselves often fail to heed it, says Michael Friedberg, FACHE, CHAM, director, patient access services at Armanti Financial Services in Bloomfield, NJ. -
Patient access has role in disease management
The great majority of U.S. health care dollars are spent supporting the chronically ill, yet the traditional focus of hospital care is on the "episode of illness," notes Bob Whipple, RNC, CCM, CCS, MHA, a Boston-based senior management consultant with ACS Healthcare Solutions. -
Amended CoP regulations concern informed consent
Except as specified for emergency situations, all inpatient and outpatient medical records must contain a properly executed informed consent form prior to a patient receiving any type of treatment that requires informed consent. -
Time spent in ED increased; Patient satisfaction also up
The average time spent in emergency departments rose in 2006, but so did patient satisfaction, according to a recent report by Press Ganey Associates. Based on the firm's patient surveys in 1,500 hospitals, patients spent an average of four hours in the ED, 18 minutes more than in 2005.