Hospital Access Management 2009-11-01

Do access staff look unhappy? Nip plummeting morale in the bud

With upset, frustrated patients facing high co-pays and deductibles on the one hand, and increasingly complex payer requirements on the other, having happy access staff may seem like an impossible dream.

Are staff overloaded? 'Jump in and help'

"If staff are unhappy, you can feel it when you walk around them."

Get coworkers to give compliments

These are some of the reasons that admitting representatives at Stanford (CA) Hospital & Clinics were recognized by their co-workers as part of the department's TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) awards program.

Customer service key to happy staff and patients

Making customer service personal can improve the access staff person's own morale.

Don't let a bad attitude become contagious

A miserable employee doesn't care about the job he or she does, won't bother collecting correct information, and won't provide excellent customer service to patients or departments.

Come up with novel ways to teach your access staff

Refresher courses, quality reviews with constructive feedback, coaching, and online courses. These are a few of the ways that access staff are kept up to date at Henry Ford Hospital/Henry Ford Cottage Hospital in Detroit.

Put a stop to registration delays; make these changes

Registration delays mean poor customer service scores for access --- which in turn means big headaches for patient access directors.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Are you ready for the new breach notification rule?

Now that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released an interim final rule implementing the breach notification provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, risk managers and compliance officers have been huddling with their teams (including their attorneys) to determine exactly how it will impact them and what steps they must take to be in compliance.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Who says 'No good deed goes unpunished'?

You'd think that any hospital in the country would be pleased to have its nurses come forward when they notice a physician practicing in a manner that is less than optimal for his or her patients. In fact, a number of states even allow the sharing of protected health information if it's necessary for such whistle-blowers to state their case.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Wellness incentives fine; no penalties for opt-outs

Hospitals are boosting incentives for wellness programs, with the hopes that healthier employees will have lower medical claims and better productivity. That push for greater incentives is likely to continue despite a recent advisory notice cautioning employers not to penalize employees who choose not to participate.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HIPAA security enforcement now under HHS OCR

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is shifting enforcement authority of the HIPAA security rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to the HHS Office of Civil Rights. Since 2003, the Office of Civil Rights has overseen enforcement of the HIPAA privacy rule, which protects the confidentiality of patients' health information.

Hospital Access Management – November 1, 2009

November 1, 2009