Hospital Access Management – February 1, 2016
February 1, 2016
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How to Cut Registration Errors
Here's how access managers created a success story at Stanford Children’s Health.
Payers want two weeks to review auth requests
As if there aren’t already enough roadblocks to obtaining authorizations, payers are now requiring unrealistic timeframes to review these requests.
50% of denials are overturned
Reasons for denials include that the service is experimental, that the service did not meet medical necessity, or that the service required a prior authorization.
‘Sense of urgency’ needed for ED registrations
In addition to great customer service skills and a thorough knowledge of insurance, emergency department registrars need “a sense of urgency,” says Candace Koutsoulieris, emergency department patient access manager at Florida Hospital Orlando.
Want to boost collections? Training is the key, say patient access leaders
Emergency department registrars can improve patient flow by getting the correct information at the right time in the emergency department visit.Get money upfront, and reduce bad debt
Collections weren’t much of a priority when copays were just $5 or $10, according to Gregory Kanetis, MPA, director of patient financial services at Lawrence (MA) General Hospital.
Providers have ‘one-stop shopping’ for transfers
San Francisco-based UCSF Medical Center recently implemented an Integrated Transfer Center. Patient access and clinical units work together to clinically and financially clear transfer patients.
Fear dissatisfaction due to collections? Be an advocate for the patient
Patient access leaders at Chicago-based Presence Health have received “fewer and fewer” complaints from patients regarding the balance that they owe, reports La’Queela Angel, director of patient payments.
Get registrars and clinicians on same page with collections
When patient access employees started point-of-service collections at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, IL, complaints were “few and far between,” says Nicole Fountain, CRCE-I, CHAM, revenue cycle director.
Patient attributes examined in provider electronic systems
More than a year ago, the National Association of Healthcare Access Management offered recommendations recorded in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s 2014 Patient Identification and Matching Final Report.
Careful: HIPAA mental health change is limited, and not a free-for-all
President Obama’s recent announcement that he is changing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to allow reporting of patients with mental health issues drew acclaim from gun control advocates, but the effect on healthcare providers was not clear.Data analysis reveals most common HIPAA violators
Several large pharmacy chains and health systems are among the most frequent violators of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to a recent report from ProPublica.
HHS offers guidance to patients on accessing their protected health information
Responding to complaints that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act sometimes makes it difficult for patients to obtain their own medical records, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights recently issued guidance to help people better exercise their existing rights for accessing that information.