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After patient access employees at SSM Health Care in St. Louis are given extensive and specialized customer training, they are able to "deal with patients under a variety of circumstances," according to Jayne Wright, patient access director for the organization's North Operating Group.
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Patient access staff often unwillingly play the part of the "bad guy" when they attempt to collect money from someone who has just lost his or her benefits or is blindsided with a huge bill.
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Would it surprise you that the number of patients leaving a hospital against medical advice (AMA) increased 39% between 1997 and 2007?
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A physician is impatiently standing over your shoulder. You look up and see a long line of patients waiting to register and all the while, the phone is ringing off the hook. Right then, a patient starts yelling that he has been waiting too long and has to go to work.
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These days, with patients ending up owing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in co-pays and deductibles, you may face a very angry person if you grossly underestimate what they owe.
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This spring during the H1N1 epidemic, registrations through EDs increased dramatically nationwide. The processes of virtually every patient access department were put to the test.
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Unemployment is at its highest level in decades, which has led to the largest-ever number of uninsured Americans. This has a direct impact on your patient access department.
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Without staff involvement in registration accuracy, no matter what a manager does, needless errors will occur.
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At Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, TN, a variety of tools are used to keep current requirements "front and center" for scheduling, registration, and verification staff.
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Many patient access departments have implemented career ladders, and many others are planning to do so, in the hopes of improving staff retention. However, participation is often disappointing.
