Hospital Access Management 2013-04-01

ED collections starting at near-zero? Simply asking can get 300% increase

While the emergency departments (EDs) at St. Lukes University Health Network in Bethlehem, PA, had a cash collection program in place two years ago, it was inconsistent and informal, according to Annemarie Mariani, patient access director.

Self-pays asked for $25 payment

At the same time emergency department (ED) registrars began asking self-pay patients for a $25 payment at St. Lukes University Health Network in Bethlehem, PA, the department implemented an onsite medical assistance program.

‘Healthy competition’ comes from incentives

While some patient access representatives in the emergency department (ED) at Greater Baltimore (MD) Medical Center collected co-pays consistently, others collected almost nothing, reports Sherry Jones, ED patient access supervisor.

Step forward to share access’ success stories

Your tireless efforts and novel approaches might have dramatically increased revenue and satisfaction at your organization. However, hospital leaders typically dont connect these great results to the work done by patient access, unless you tell them so.

Race/ethnicity data: Put stop to guesswork

Do your registrars use their own judgment to determine patients race and ethnicity because theyre too embarrassed to ask the person standing in front of them?

Asking your patients for ‘sensitive’ information?

Because its our policy. Its required by the state. If a wary patient asks registrars why a certain piece of demographic information is needed, these answers are likely to make matters worse.

Offer help to patients with high deductibles

If it seems like you are seeing increasing numbers of patients with high-deductible health plans, its not your imagination.

Use recorded calls to your advantage

If a physician complains that a visit should have been scheduled as 40 minutes instead of 20 minutes because of the patients multiple diagnoses, wouldnt it be great to be know exactly what the patient said during the initial call, instead of assuming it was the schedulers error?

Successfully collect outstanding balances

At University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers Physician Division, every interaction with the patient is designated as an opportunity to collect an outstanding balance, says Karen Shaffer-Platt, vice president of the revenue cycle.

New rule published on essential health benefits

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule on Feb. 25 outlining essential health benefits that must be covered by all insurers wishing to participate in the new health insurance marketplaces.

Majority of states opt for federally run marketplaces

The deadline for states to decide on the route to take for their health insurance marketplace has come and gone without any last-minute decisions, says the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM), quoting a story in Kaiser Health News.

States rethink high risk pools

When the health insurance marketplaces open next year, it will mean that plans will be available to everyone regardless of state of residence, pre-existing condition, or potential risk to the insurance company, according to the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM), quoting an article in Politico.