Hospital Access Management 2010-02-01

Are patients angry at access? Make sure they're happy before they leave

Regardless of the reason, an upset, disgruntled patient is dangerous for your department.

Frustration levels too high? Act now, not later

To avoid making a bad situation worse, your staff should be prepared to smooth things over before an angry patient walks away. This sounds difficult, but can be surprisingly simple.

Tackle even the stickiest cross-departmental issues

Often, problems that are a continual thorn in the side for patient access simply cannot be solved without the help of other departments. Likewise, you can spread no small amount of goodwill by helping others with their own troublesome "pain points." Here are some ways to improve cross-departmental relationships:

Do an immediate consult with staff in these cases

Rushing by a registration area on your way to a meeting with a hospital administrator, you think you hear an edgy tone in an access employee's voice while she's answering a patient's question. Do you stop to investigate further, or do you continue on your way?

Get physician offices to meet the needs of access

Common obstacles in good communication between patient access departments and physician offices include: duplication of patient demographic data, communication barriers due to turnover in physician practices, or discrepancies in physician billing requirements vs. hospital requirements.

Say and do this if patients say they just can't pay

These days, access is seeing many patients who simply cannot pay what they're told they owe. In light of this reality, staff will need to be ready for some uncomfortable moments.

Your actions can reduce tension over long ED waits

What's the most common complaint that Amy M. Kirkland, CHAA, patient access team leader for the emergency department at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, SC, hears from patients? Hands down, it involves frustration over long wait times.

HHS increases penalties for HIPAA violations

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published an interim final rule incorporating provisions of the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health (HITECH) Act related to HIPAA violations that significantly increase the penalties it can levee against employers and health care providers.

Sharing user names is a HIPAA security violation

What's a shared user name between friends?

HIPAA requirements, penalties increased

According to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, the economic stimulus package passed by Congress last year included several changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) involving privacy of patient information:

Hospital Access Management – February 1, 2010

February 1, 2010