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Rushing by a registration area on your way to a meeting with a hospital administrator, you think you hear an edgy tone in an access employee's voice while she's answering a patient's question. Do you stop to investigate further, or do you continue on your way?
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What's the most common complaint that Amy M. Kirkland, CHAA, patient access team leader for the emergency department at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, SC, hears from patients? Hands down, it involves frustration over long wait times.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published an interim final rule incorporating provisions of the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health (HITECH) Act related to HIPAA violations that significantly increase the penalties it can levee against employers and health care providers.
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Regardless of the reason, an upset, disgruntled patient is dangerous for your department.
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To avoid making a bad situation worse, your staff should be prepared to smooth things over before an angry patient walks away. This sounds difficult, but can be surprisingly simple.
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Common obstacles in good communication between patient access departments and physician offices include: duplication of patient demographic data, communication barriers due to turnover in physician practices, or discrepancies in physician billing requirements vs. hospital requirements.
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These days, access is seeing many patients who simply cannot pay what they're told they owe. In light of this reality, staff will need to be ready for some uncomfortable moments.
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What's a shared user name between friends?
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According to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, the economic stimulus package passed by Congress last year included several changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) involving privacy of patient information:
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By working closely with a carefully chosen network of skilled nursing facilities, The Methodist Hospital in Houston has smoothed the transitions in care for patients being discharged to the facilities.
