Articles Tagged With:
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Ex-OSHA Chief: With Violence Reg Stalled, Hospitals Should Act
In the current political climate, OSHA has no realistic way forward to achieve its goal of issuing a proposed standard to protect healthcare workers from violence, a former OSHA director tells Hospital Employee Health.
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Media Unit at Relias Honored With Multiple Awards at SIPA
Pediatric Trauma 2018, Emergency Medicine Reports, and Hospital Infection Control & Prevention take home honors from industry peers.
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Center Addresses Needs of Acutely Intoxicated Patients, Links Them to Treatment
Soon, EDs in Baltimore may feel some relief from the crushing volume of patients with substance use problems, thanks to the creation of a new type of facility designed for patients who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol and need a place where they can safely recover while receiving short-term medical care.
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Emergency Clinicians Steer Patients With Substance Use Problems Into Effective Treatment
To address an increasing volume of ED patients with substance use issues, leaders at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore decided to integrate peer recovery coaches into the emergency medicine team. The peer recovery coaches are people in long-term recovery from their own addictions who have received training on how to counsel other addicts toward positive change and facilitate their transition into appropriate treatment programs. The approach has been in effect for two years, and administrators say it is affecting patients and emergency staff positively.
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The Case for Educating At-risk Patients About Firearms Violence
Investigators from the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis have unveiled a new resource for clinicians to guide them in their discussions with patients about firearms violence. Called the “What You Can Do” initiative, developers are encouraging frontline clinicians to familiarize themselves with the risk factors for gun violence, provide counseling to appropriate patients on safe firearms practices, and to intervene when there is an imminent threat of harm.
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Surprise Bills ‘No Longer Acceptable’ to Savvy Patients
As collections continue to move to the “front end” of the revenue cycle, patient access is expanding pre-service processes, including verifying demographics, informing patients of their benefits and estimated liability, and trying to collect the amount due. This prevents patients from receiving a surprisingly large bill on the date of service.
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Accommodating Walk-ins? Don’t Forget Scheduled Patients
Servicing the growing population of walk-in patients and expanding hours to evenings and weekends “are just the next steps in a patient-first mentality."
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Patients Want Services on Demand
Patient access departments are changing their ways due to rising expectations for on-demand care. Clinics and outpatient service areas at Ochsner Medical Center - North Shore in Slidell, LA, “no longer operate on ‘banker’s hours.'"
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Online Tools Shed Some Light on Out-of-pocket Costs
How much will it cost? It’s a surprisingly complex question, and the ability of patient access employees to answer it is becoming increasingly important. Concurrently, new online price comparison tools are appearing everywhere; yet, those tools carry questionable value.
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Communication, Not Computer Expertise, a Must-have Skill for Patient Access
Not too long ago, some basic computer skills and the ability to collect demographic information were pretty much all that was needed for a patient access employee to succeed. Now highly skilled at upfront collections, financial discussions, and customer service, their role continues to expand both in scope and complexity.