Access Management
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Department sees ‘record high of cash collections’ and fewer accounts receivable with these changes
In Fiscal Year 2014, patient access leaders at Bakersfield, CA-based Kern Medical Center reduced the billed accounts receivable (A/R) from $82,000 to $56,000. “And we didn’t simply write off the A/R,” reports Susan Labow, interim executive director of revenue cycle.
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Even integrated systems may need specialized revenue cycle software
Integrated systems can solve many dilemmas for patient access by creating work lists for error management and allowing staff to determine eligibility in real time.
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Integrated systems are top priority — Dramatically improve efficiency
It’s one of the biggest time-wasters in patient access: Employees are constantly switching back and forth between many different systems, just to do their jobs.
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Communicating with patients encouraged
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has launched an initiative with the Ad Council to encourage clinicians and patients to engage in effective two-way communication to ensure safer care and better health outcomes. -
Education, follow-up reduce readmissions
A pilot project providing coaching and follow up for heart failure (HF) patients who are readmitted frequently resulted in a 50% drop in the readmission rate at Indiana University (IU) Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, IN. -
Wellness a winner for hospitals, HCWs
Almost six years ago, OhioHealth in Columbus began to face up to a problem: Many employees at the multi-hospital system in central Ohio were unhealthy. They were smokers, overweight, physically inactive, stressed out. -
A look at the top 10 hazardous industries
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, these industries had the highest rates of work-related injury and illness in the United States in 2010: -
New spotless spotlight shines on EVS workers
Cleaning patient's rooms may not seem like the most important job in the hospital. But environmental service workers save lives in their own way by preventing the spread of infections. A new spotlight on their role may boost the resources, communication and training focused on this group of workers. -
Stymied OSHA is politically incorrect in campaign season
Growing anti-regulatory pressure and presidential politics bring new hurdles for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which was already known for its snail-like pace of rulemaking. The agency has delayed the release of several key regulations, and observers expect little to emerge in the midst of an election year. -
CA law calls for hospital lift teams
Lift teams are now the law in California. After seven years and five vetoes, a safe patient handling bill was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown that requires hospitals to have "trained lift teams or other support staff trained in safe lifting techniques."