Hospital Access Management – June 1, 2016
June 1, 2016
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Want More Respect for Access? Get Involved in Safety Initiatives
A patient without ID presents for an outpatient test. He misquotes his DOB and uses a nickname instead of his real name at registration. Now what?
Admissions Gives Valuable Nonclinical Input
The Admission Department at Washington, DC-based Sibley Memorial is very involved in the hospital’s Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program, a patient safety-focused change model developed by The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
It’s Coming Soon: Drivers’ Licenses on Smartphones
In the near future, registration areas might identify patients using drivers' licenses — on smartphones. Iowa is piloting mobile drivers’ licenses, and states including Delaware, California, Arizona, and New Jersey are considering doing so.
What Patient Access Must Know about Capitated Insurance Plans
A growing number of patients are presenting to registration areas with capitated insurance plans. These plans allow payment of a flat fee for each covered individual, regardless of how much care the individual receives.
Use Quality Assurance Tools to Identify — and Fix — Errors Before Claims Go Out
Patient access leaders at Marion (IN) General Hospital wrote rules, tested, and trained more than 70 registrars before going live with a new electronic quality assurance tool in March 2014. The tool (AhiQA, manufactured by Alpharetta, GA-based Relay Health) allows registrars to see errors right after the registration is complete, so they can correct them immediately.
Department Saw Worse QA Outcomes Initially
Marion (IN) General Hospital’s patient access department saw worse quality assurance outcomes shortly after implementing a QA tool. However, this decrease was expected, because the quantity of data elements being final-reviewed was greatly increased.
‘Zero Is Our Goal’— Dramatically Reduce Duplicate Medical Records
Duplicate medical records potentially are dangerous to patients because care decisions are based on incorrect information.
Stanford Health Care’s Patients Receive a ‘One-Stop’ Registration for the Hospital System
Patient access leaders at Palo Alto, CA-based Stanford Health Care recently overhauled the “status quo” of patient registration, reports Anna Dapelo-Garcia, MPA/HSA, administrative director of patient access services.
Auth in Place, Then Different Procedure Is Done? Avoid “No Auth” Claims Denials
When a physician orders a procedure to be performed in a surgical setting at Birmingham, AL-based UAB Hospital, patient access staff start the process of obtaining required authorizations.
Can Yelp Reviews Enhance Reports on Hospital Quality?
Yelp reviews of hospitals cover topics not found in the federal government’s survey of patients’ hospital experiences, according to the results of a study from Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.