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The "technology" utilized by registrars 30 years ago at Tufts Medical Center in Boston consisted of a typewriter, multi-part forms, a copy machine, and a manual embossing machine to print patient identification cards.
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Some medical staff members might view access services staff as "expendable" and unimportant to the flow of patient care outside of entering information into the computer, according to Kimberly Ablog-Shapiro, access representative supervisor for the night shift in the emergency department (ED) at University of California Davis Medical Center.
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Doing "more with less" is a major challenge for patient access leaders, both now and in the coming years. Lauree M. Miller, director of patient access at Catholic Health Initiatives in Lincoln, NE, expects this challenge to grow when healthcare reform initiatives are implemented in 2014, due to decreased hospital revenue.
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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.
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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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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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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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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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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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Data breaches in healthcare organizations are on the rise, according to the Second Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy & Data Security released recently by The Ponemon Institute in Traverse City, MI.
