Form letter, follow-up attract parents’ attention
Gateways Mental Health Hospital in Los Angeles has developed an effective method for obtaining consents from the parents of their young patients, says Patricia Jackson, director of patient accounting.
Responding to a request for feedback from Jean Steinbrecker, admissions manager at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO, Jackson explained that her facility had experienced the same problems that Steinbrecker outlined: Hospital personnel often struggled with getting the consent signed, particularly when patients bypassed admissions and went straight to the nursing floor.
As Steinbrecker explained, nurses don’t think it’s their responsibility to get the consent, and parents sometimes don’t make it to the admissions department to sign the form.
"To correct the problem," Jackson says, "we have a form letter that is sent out to each parent/guardian who did not complete the consent forms." The form letter reads as follows:
"Your child was a patient at this facility for the period of _____ to _____. However, you did not fill out and sign all of the necessary paperwork. We are unable to bill either the insurance and/or any government agency that might be willing to pay for these services. Please call the business office to make arrangements to come in and complete the paperwork for your child."
If the parent or guardian does not come in when billing is done, he or she is sent a statement for the full cost of care, Jackson adds.
"That has not failed to get their attention," she says. "When they call, upset at the bill, we then re-inform them that signing the paperwork allows us to bill other payers. We also inform them that, ultimately, all services are the responsibility of the patient/parent, and that billing insurance is always done as a help to them."
The procedure has proved effective at her facility, Jackson concludes.
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