Hospital Access Management – November 1, 2003
November 1, 2003
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Performance improvement team creates success in patient flow, clinician buy-in
A process begun four years ago when the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston took a hard look at pending discharges has led to a cutting-edge bed management program and a best practice designation from two national benchmarking organizations. -
Adding admission nurses enhances bed placement
A new approach to unscheduled admissions that started as a trial with the goal of boosting morale and improving nurse retention has become much more than that. -
Data quality review ‘one of best around’
Not only do the verification and quality services personnel at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem perform one of the most thorough registration quality checks around, theyve been doing it for 12 years. -
Access Feedback: Space redesign, counseling boost ED collection efforts
Tara Tinsley, CHAM, access supervisor and department trainer in the emergency department at Childrens Health Center in Birmingham, AL, shares her experience with Hospital Access Management in response to a request for information on ED cash collection practices in the May 2003 issue by Lori Judge, MS, HAS, director of patient financial services at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, KY. -
Access preparations pay off when disaster strikes
When an explosion happened at a nearby bean processing plant, the good news was that Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, IA, was ready to handle the eight injured workers brought in for treatment. -
Hospital operation is smooth during blackout
It was pretty close to business as usual for New York Presbyterian Hospital during the electrical blackout that hit a large swath of the northeastern United States in August 2003, but with one important realization gained: The information systems department was located too far from the main campus. -
‘Reasonable’ registration still guideline for CMS
New regulations regarding the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act notwithstanding, patient access managers continue to seek clarity on exactly how much registration activity may take place in the emergency department before a patients treatment is completed. -
News Briefs
Legal concerns addressed regarding JCAHO review; Medicaid spending slows, first time in seven years; EMTALA sourcebook cuts through new regs -
2003 Salary Survey Results: Latest hiring trend adds medical records experience to access mix
Its been clear for a while that patient access managers could increase their marketability by beefing up their business office and patient accounting experience. But the very latest trend appears to be toward hiring a triple threat someone who also has a background in medical records. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Privacy regulations complicate communication with patients
The privacy regulations enacted as part of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have caused some unforeseen complications for hospitals trying to ensure patient safety and improve communication between providers and patients, say health care professionals and legal experts. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: What to do if you’re just getting started
At the Seventh HIPAA Summit held in Baltimore in mid-September, Dr. HIPAA former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services executive William Braithwaite said that while Transactions and Code Sets testing should have started in April at the latest, vendors should have provided software to all their clients and completed testing, clearinghouses should have finished testing for all customers, and health plans should have finished testing all transactions with providers and clearinghouses, the reality was that much of the testing still was being done and some entities hadnt yet started. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Privacy implementation going well, says HHS
Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights director Richard Campanelli says that many covered entities have done a good job of coming into compliance with the HIPAA privacy requirements that took effect in April, although there remain some misunderstandings about the requirements that need to be cleared up. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: CMS implements contingency plan
With surveys indicating that the required Oct. 16 compliance with transaction and code sets HIPAA requirements would be spotty at best, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has drawn industry support for deciding to implement its contingency plan and accept legacy claims for an undetermined period of time while efforts toward full compliance continue. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Survey shines light on HIPAA compliance efforts
The summer 2003 Industry HIPAA survey conducted by HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) and Phoenix Health Systems found that not enough time was seen as the major roadblock to meeting the Oct. 16 implementation deadline for transactions and code sets. And that report helped set the stage for CMS and others to apply their contingency plans and continue to accept noncompliant claims. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Labs seek HHS transaction guidance and relief
In testimony before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, the president of the American Clinical Laboratory Association said that although labs are committed to compliance with the transaction standards, the Department of Health and Human Services needs to provide more specific guidance to assist providers struggling with implementation and also must streamline the mechanisms for development and maintenance of the transaction standards.