Hospital Access Management – October 1, 2005
October 1, 2005
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System targets patient throughput with people skills, technology, Six Sigma
Providence Health System is pulling out all the stops as it focuses this year and next on improving patient throughput at its three Portland, OR-area hospitals, says Kathy Campbell, black belt project manager for health services integration. -
‘Operational Excellence’ employs new techniques
Under the banner of a comprehensive initiative called “Operational Excellence,” employees at Portland, OR-based Providence Health System are working to help their organization meet its strategic goals, says Nancy Roberts, regional director for integrated performance and Six Sigma champion. -
Revenue integrity team adds rounds, web training
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock has been on an upward trend in registration accuracy since 2000, thanks to continuous tweaking of its education program and improved auditing methods by the access department’s revenue integrity specialist team. -
‘Virtual gathering place’ is hospital patient pleaser
Several hundred hospitals throughout the country are now giving patients and their families the opportunity to set up “CarePages” that allow them to send updates on the patient’s condition over the Internet and receive messages in return. -
Access takes on the task of rerouting patient mail
Solutions such as the CarePages designed by Chicago-based TLContact are modern-day ways of expressing concern about people who are ill or undergoing surgery. But while people don’t send cards to patients as much as they used to, notes the senior director of access services at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, there is still a sizable flow of personal mail arriving at hospitals that must be dealt with. -
Access Q&A - Reader seeks listserv: Is there a forum for access?
Are there any listservs for admitting/access departments?— Paula Caster, admitting/communications supervisor at Ridgecrest (CA) Regional Hospital -
Court ruling underscores sanctity of triage systems
Hospitals may safely upgrade the patient acuity classifications of their emergency department triage systems, but they cannot downgrade them, for fear of violating the requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. -
Grievance process is clarified as CoPs revised
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued revisions to its interpretive guidelines for the hospital conditions of participation (CoP) in Medicare, including clarifications on how patient grievances should be handled and when a billing complaint is considered a grievance. -
News Briefs
Beginning Oct. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will no longer process electronic Medicare claims for payment unless they comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. -
‘Bed turn’ is at the heart of IHI throughput tool
While Providence Health System has used such methods as measuring length of stay and focusing on “discharge by 11” to improve patient throughput, a recent Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) “call around” offered some new food for thought on the subject.