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Members of your patient access staff might act as customer service clerks, financial counselors, and patient advocates all within an hour, and they also are tasked with providing accurate directions within the medical center, according to Chris Hatcher, registration manager for Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, CA.
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Registrars at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis field five or six calls every day from patients asking detailed questions about what services will cost them, says Laura Florine, manager of patient financial care services. "Patients may postpone care if they are not sure about the cost of the service," she adds.
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Compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a major area of concern for patient registration areas, according to Nancy Dean, vice president of compliance, privacy and internal audit at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.
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If a self-pay or underinsured patient presents to you for services, how quickly can you determine if he or she is eligible for Medicaid or another public program?
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Many hospital associates believe that registration staff simply sit at their desk and greet patients, reports Barbara Blum, director of access, admitting, and registration at MedStar Health in Columbia, MD. "They have no idea what the registration staff's responsibilities include," Blum says.
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When a trauma patient arrives via ambulance, access services staff must obtain information quickly, before the patient is taken for diagnostic tests or given medications, which make them drowsy.
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Members of your patient access staff probably are reminded often that the clinical side of patient care is more important than gathering the proper information.
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Thirty years ago, the Master Patient Index (MPI) used by a hospital's registration and admitting department typically was maintained by medical records.
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Typewriters were the only way to record a patient's information when Vicki Sanseverino began working as an "admit representative" at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, CA, in 1983, as there was no computer system in place at the time.
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If your hospital is switching to an electronic medical record (EMR), this change is an excellent opportunity to start a much-needed dialogue with clinical areas.
