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In today's down economy, increasing upfront collections is even more important for patient access departments, but it's getting harder as many patients are struggling to make ends meet, at the same time that their copays, deductibles, and co-insurances are becoming more expensive.
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A health care organization might have in place the best information technology (IT) protections available, but complacency can be a dangerous thing considering the gold mine of personal information stored by a hospital.
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Patient transfer admissions pose a "bittersweet" issue for patient access managers, says Terry D. Long, RN, BSN, MBA, NEA-BC, director of the patient transfer center at Texas Health Resources in Arlington.
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Improving morale of patient access staff is difficult, but it doesn't have to be expensive.
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Patient access staff often overlook or misinterpret payer requirements, which can cost the hospital thousands of dollars. Yet keeping staff current with all the various rules is a full-time job in itself.
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On Aug. 22, 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a proposed rule that would adopt updated versions of the standards for electronic transactions under HIPAA.
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On July 15, 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entered into an agreement with Seattle-based Providence Health & Services to settle potential violations of HIPAA privacy rules.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may have given rise to — and oversees — HIPAA privacy regulations, but according to a report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), the agency's approach to ensuring the privacy of health information still needs some work.
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Instead of asking a patient to show you a driver's license, how about identifying patients by the unique vein patterns in their hands? A new palm scanning device is used by patient access staff at Carolinas HealthCare System, the first health care provider in the United States to implement this technology.
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If you are being inundated with sales pitches from technology vendors these days, it's not too surprising. A number of solutions are aimed at improving patient access processes, such as compliance with new admission/registration requirements.