-
An ancillary department repeatedly insists that patient access staff are entering the wrong orders. If this accusation was made about your department, what would your response be?
-
Use data to deflect unfair complaints about accessWhen someone has a complaint about patient access either an individual staff person or the department overall how you respond can "make or break" what happens next.
-
Patient access departments are, without question, "under the microscope" in this recession. Managers need to prove their competency and show the impact of the department on the hospital's bottom line, while facing the threat of budget cuts that could reduce staffing, technology, and education resources.
-
This is the second of a two-part series on use of performance indicators in patient access. This month, we tell you how to use these data as tools to motivate staff. Last month, we covered ways to develop the most effective scorecards.
-
One hundred percent of scheduled cases authorized - that is the goal set by Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital's financial access unit.
-
At Hackensack (NJ) University Medical Center, patient access staff are taking steps to improve precertifications and registration accuracy by obtaining information electronically.
-
Obtaining copays and accurate insurance information in the emergency department is not easy - and, therefore, is often not done. The department is not only hectic, but the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) also presents obstacles unique to the ED.
-
Many patient access departments are facing two opposing pressures right now: They are being asked to improve collections and help the hospital's bottom line, while at the same time, resources are being cut.
-
"Staff morale is always an issue for hospital access professionals," says Kathy Matthews, director of admitting and ED registration at Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn (NY). For this reason, Matthews says she takes great pains to "let staff know what they're doing right."
-
Fewer resources, service discounts, high deductibles, transparency, increased market competition, and increases in the uninsured population. These factors make it "ever so critical to collect during the upfront processes."