Hospital Access Management – August 1, 2009
August 1, 2009
View Issues
-
Reward staff for meeting collection goals with patients now paying 'less than ever'
There is no doubt that an incentive program can result in increased upfront collections. There's also no question that it's more important than ever for patient access to get results. -
Don't want to cut training? Tie it to the bottom line
Training and education costs are often the first items on the "chopping block" when it's time for budget cuts at hospitals, which is bad news for patient access. -
Online resource gives staff instant payer info
An Intranet application at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, DE, was developed specifically for patient access staff to improve registration accuracy. -
Inspire competition with department newsletter
A newsletter is an inexpensive, simple way to inspire some friendly competition to motivate your patient access staff. At Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, NC, the patient access department distributes a monthly newsletter featuring top performers for productivity and accuracy. Productivity is measured either by the number of accounts worked or registrations completed. -
This new role can revamp the way your ED collects
A lead emergency department registrar position was created at Swedish Covenant Hospital, in order to improve collections in this challenging patient population, says Rose Jeanfreau, director of patient access Services at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago. -
Hospital starts a new POS program for ED collections
According to Richard J. Suszek, director of patient financial services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, the ED has been challenged to improve upfront collections in order to reduce bad debt and, also, to improve screening for Medicaid eligibility and financial assistance/charity care. -
Do your staff have trouble asking patients for money?
Increasingly often, patient access staff are put in a difficult position - talking about money with patients. "In today's economy, many people have lost their jobs and their health insurance," says Debby Cornett, RHIA, corporate director of patient access, transcription, and health information management at Jewish Hospital and St. Mary's HealthCare in Louisville, KY.