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The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), which advises the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues related to administrative simplification under HIPAA, says the agency should show continued patience as covered entities continue to make progress in implementation of the HIPAA transactions and code sets (TCS) requirements.
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When access personnel at the University Hospital of Arkansas in Little Rock decided they would benefit from having their own resource web site, they sent the proposal to the information technology (IT) department, says Holly Jones, CHAM, a revenue integrity specialist (RIS) given the task of overseeing the project.
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An all-employee guest-relations program at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago aims to increase both the hospitals market share and its Press Ganey Associates patient satisfaction scores.
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At least two state legislatures have taken action in recent weeks regarding free or discounted health care services for uninsured patients, according to reports in the on-line news service, AHA News Now.
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As part of the financial aid program at the New Orleans-based Touro Infirmary, there is a clinic for uninsured or underinsured patients, says Beth Keith, CHAM, director of patient business services.
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In response to suggestions that two laws enforced by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may prevent hospitals from offering discounted prices to uninsured patients. The OIG discusses each law on its web site, www.oig.hhs.gov, as follows.
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Encouragement from the Bush administration for hospitals to give discounts to uninsured patients and financially needy Medicare beneficiaries will have little impact, say some access professionals surveyed by Hospital Access Management, mostly because hospitals already give such discounts under the name of charity care and uncollectible bad debt.
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A third option to the Periodic Performance Review (PPR) has been approved by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Earlier this year, Joint Commission created two options to the self-conducted midcycle review for organizations that may be concerned about the discoverability of PPR information shared with the Joint Commission.
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Reports of adverse events, including the death of a cosmetic surgery patient, after administration of propofol by RNs have resulted in a change in anesthesia standards for some organizations accredited by the Gurnee, IL-based American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF).
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Old habits are hard to break, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is asking same-day surgery staff members to break some habits theyve had since nursing and medical school. National Patient Safety Goal No. 2 requires health care organizations to standardize abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols and to develop a list of do-not-use abbreviations.
