-
No more needlesticks. That sounds like a laudable goal that could prevent health care workers from being exposed to deadly diseases. But, in tandem, hospitals need to maintain another important message that could actually cause their numbers to rise: Report all needlesticks.
-
Imagine a disposable respirator that fits well right out of the box. Or perhaps even a respirator that's inexpensive and requires no annual fit-test.
-
When removing personal protective equipment, it's important for health care workers to realize that the gowns, gloves, masks, and goggles are contaminated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) have slightly different protocols, but both are designed to prevent health care workers from becoming ill from contaminated PPE.
-
The problem is a common one: Patient handling leads to back strain and pain and even to serious injury. The solution is less obvious: Empower health care workers to analyze the tasks and come up with their own corrective plan.
-
It can be a vicious cycle: Turnover causes undue stress to personnel due to staffing shortages, plus the added burden of bringing new personnel up to speed. This leads to more turnover.
-
Happier employees that's what Holly Hiryak, MNSc, RN, CHAM, director of hospital admissions/access services at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR, would like to see.
-
Automobile and accidental injury regulations, the Medicare as Secondary Payer questionnaire, and workers' compensation guidelines are just a few of the many issues with which the patient access professional and case manager must be educated and competent.
-
For many years, patient access was "the red-headed stepchild of the revenue cycle, straddling the fence between patient care and financials," says James Hicks, CHAA, CHAM, CAM, patient access manager at Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton, NC.
-
New associates starting right out of school or from some other service industry bring limited or no knowledge of the health care industry to the table. They may or may not have well-developed computer skills. As for medical terminology, it's likely to be a foreign language to them.
-
An enterprise-wide master patient index is used at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, a system of six hospitals, several off-campus diagnostic and treatment centers, free-standing surgical centers, and urgent care centers.
