Hospital Access Management – June 1, 2011
June 1, 2011
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Give patients a straight answer on out-of-pocket, or they may leave
How much will I owe for this procedure?" Your response to this seemingly simple question from a patient could be the deciding factor as to whether he or she chooses your facility, says Marcy Quattrochi, manager of financial counseling at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL. -
Asking for payment? First, give explanation
When a patient asks what he or she will owe for a procedure, registrars at St. Joseph's Healthcare System in Paterson, NJ, consider the payer contract, procedure code, procedure amount, and patient benefits, says Sandra N. Rivera, RN, BSN, CHAM, director of patient access. -
Don't wait — Verify patient's coverage
Payers are asking for more preauthorizations, even for services that previously didn't require them, reports Connie Campbell, director of patient access of Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, WI. -
Revamped role to mean fewer denials
At Valley Health System in Ridgewood, NJ, two major goals are to obtain more authorizations and to do them in advance of the inpatient stay or procedure, says Maura Corvino, MSOL, RN, CEN, assistant vice president for emergency services and patient access. -
No last-minute auths — Most are 20 days out
At Valley Health System in Ridgewood, NJ, patient access staff perform pre-registration up to 20 business days before most scheduled procedures, reports Maura Corvino, MSOL, RN, CEN, assistant vice president for emergency services and patient access. -
ED collections increase by 75% with new tactics
No one ever asked me for money before," was a common response when registrars started collecting ED copays at Evanston, IL-based NorthShore University HealthSystem, reports Cindy Geaslin, director of patient registration. -
Incentives may be unfair for ED copay collection
Rewarding your overall patient access team for ED collections is a more practical approach than rewarding individual staff members, according to Cindy Geaslin, director of patient registration at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL. -
Pursuing ED collections? First, get clinical buy-in
When patient access leaders made the decision to revamp the ED collection process at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL, they immediately set out to obtain the support of the ED medical and nursing directors, says Cindy Geaslin, director of patient registration. -
Get valuable feedback from your customers
Is a patient or family member extremely frustrated with the customer service they received from one of your registrars? Or do they think it's the best registration experience they ever had? -
You are missing chances to collect more copays
Several "missed opportunity" areas for copay collection are receiving close attention at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT, reports Margaret Trudel, patient access manager. -
ED copays rise to 47% with bedside collection
At Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT, members of the patient access staff have been collecting ED copays since 2004, reports Margaret Trudel, patient access manager, "but we continue to make adjustments to improve." Previously, about 12% of identified copays were collected at the hospital's main ED, Trudel says. -
'Natural next step' for access: Biometrics
(Editor's Note: This is the second part of a two-part series on patient identification processes used by patient access departments. This month, we report on new biometric technology being implemented by a growing number of hospitals. Last month, we covered processes used to verify a patient's identity, the expected impact of healthcare reform, and involving patients in the process.) -
New ID technology? Get the word out
When biometric scanning was introduced at Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, NC, registrars handed out marketing and informational material to all patients.