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It's hard to imagine a tougher point-of-service collection challenge than collecting from emergency department patients. Patients may expect to pay a small copay, and when they change to inpatient status, may suddenly owe thousands of dollars toward their deductible.
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Every patient access department has registrars who can be counted on to rise to every occasion, but better pay may lure these valuable employees to other hospital departments or industries. Instead, why not give these employees "an offer they can't refuse" that is, a clear path to career advancement.
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Patient estimation software implemented in late 2009 at Tallahassee (FL) Memorial Hospital has "helped tremendously" with collections, says Joan S. Braveman, director of patient access and financial services. "In this past fiscal year, we increased our front-end cash collection by 40%," she says.
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Data breaches cost health care organizations more than $6 billion annually, and 71% of the respondents to a study released by the Ponemon Institute say they do not have enough resources to prevent or to quickly detect a loss of patient data.
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Calling to remind patients of their appointments, instructions on how to prepare the night before a procedure, or to see if patients have questions prior to surgery are important ways to keep your outpatient surgery or diagnostic testing departments' schedules on track.
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If you find yourself struggling to hold on to your best employees, compensation is probably an issue.
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The patient access world is seeing nothing less than a sea change in its roles and responsibilities, according to Pam Carlisle, CHAM, corporate director of patient access services at OhioHealth in Dublin.
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Years ago, when patients came in with Medicare coverage, registration staff were "ecstatic," recalls Robin Teneyck, director of patient access for Sound Shore Health System in New Rochelle, NY.
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When a claim denial occurs, the underlying cause is not necessarily the payer's requirements, says Silva Gramlich, director of registration services in the finance department at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH.
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Patient access staff are encountering patients under financial stress, and the same is true for employers, notes Brett Taylor, director of payer relations for Nationwide Children's in Columbus, OH.
