Use software to prepare for surge
If the expected surge in patient volume under the Affordable Care Act materializes, does that mean patient access staffing will need to increase commensurately?
"Healthcare reform will be bringing more patients to the hospital. Initially, this will affect the patient access department," says Ankeny Minoux, president of the nonprofit Foundation for Health Coverage Education (FHCE). Minoux is chief operating office of PointCare, a software product that resulted from a study done by San Diego, CA-based Sharp Healthcare and the FHCE that focused on hospitals taking on a greater role in signing up uninsured patients at the point of care to help their bottom lines.
"Staffing up’ can be minimized for hospitals, by having clear and concise procedures in place and by using navigation software available in the marketplace today," says Minoux.
PointCare’s proprietary database, updated real-time, can access all public and private health insurance options in all states, including health exchanges plans, coverage subsidies, tax credits, and it is customizable to include the healthcare facility’s charity care programs. "Currently, PointCare is the only screening and enrollment technology that instantly screens for all public and private programs nationwide," says Minoux. "Most competitors only screen for between three and 10 programs, but are doing so using a paper-based model."
Continuing to use manual processes for identifying health insurance options for the uninsured just isn’t a viable option for today’s patient access departments, she underscores.
"Those who will emerge successfully from reform’s changes must focus their efforts on conducting a consistent and accurate screening, of every program, for every patient, every time," she says.
- PointCare is a screening and screening and enrollment technology that screens for all public and private programs. The rates for a facility range from $2,500 to $7,500 monthly, and systems with multiple facilities are priced separately. For more information, contact PointCare, San Mateo, CA. Phone: (650) 762-1928. Email: pcpainfo@
pointcare.com. Web: www.pointcare.com.
