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In this question-and-answer session, Mark Schreiner, MD, chair of the Committees for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an associate professor of anesthesia in pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, discusses the issue of informed consent in cluster-randomized clinical trials.
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Nationwide, research institutions are cutting costs in response to the economic downturn. Funding for education and training has been one area hit fairly hard, and this made it a challenge for IRB offices to meet their educational demands.
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Often, problems that are a continual thorn in the side for patient access simply cannot be solved without the help of other departments. Likewise, you can spread no small amount of goodwill by helping others with their own troublesome "pain points." Here are some ways to improve cross-departmental relationships:
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Rushing by a registration area on your way to a meeting with a hospital administrator, you think you hear an edgy tone in an access employee's voice while she's answering a patient's question. Do you stop to investigate further, or do you continue on your way?
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What's the most common complaint that Amy M. Kirkland, CHAA, patient access team leader for the emergency department at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, SC, hears from patients? Hands down, it involves frustration over long wait times.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published an interim final rule incorporating provisions of the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health (HITECH) Act related to HIPAA violations that significantly increase the penalties it can levee against employers and health care providers.
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Regardless of the reason, an upset, disgruntled patient is dangerous for your department.
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To avoid making a bad situation worse, your staff should be prepared to smooth things over before an angry patient walks away. This sounds difficult, but can be surprisingly simple.
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Common obstacles in good communication between patient access departments and physician offices include: duplication of patient demographic data, communication barriers due to turnover in physician practices, or discrepancies in physician billing requirements vs. hospital requirements.
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These days, access is seeing many patients who simply cannot pay what they're told they owe. In light of this reality, staff will need to be ready for some uncomfortable moments.
