POS collections up by 170% in 2 years

Total point-of-service (POS) collections went from $650,000 in 2009 to $1.5 million by the end of 2011 at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago.

"We are continuing our efforts on time-of-service collections for all services, while identifying missed opportunities," Philip N. Quick, CHAM, manager of patient access and bed management.

The increase in POS collections is directly related to the department's financial advocacy initiative that began in late 2009, Quick says. "Using LEAN principals, we were able to streamline our processes surrounding insurance verification," he says. "This includes proper identification of any patient portion due."

On the outpatient side, POS collections increased by 170% over the previous year, and on the inpatient side, these increased by nearly 30%. "We aren't done yet," Quick says. "We are just finishing up the emergency room verification component. We are getting ready to move on to the inpatient side."

As changes were implemented in one area, such as outpatient diagnostics, Quick says that any of those same processes "trickled down" to other areas.

"This initiative has been going on simultaneously during the merger of bed management and insurance verification," he adds. "As we continue our efforts in each area, the work gets easier in the next."