Hospital Access Management articles from December 2004

Hospital Access Management archives from December 2004

Hospital outsourcing ED financial counseling to reduce bad debt: in-house liaison facilitates vendor-staff relationships.(emergency department outsourcing)
December 1, 2004... When the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center-Presbyterian Philadelphia turned its attention to addressing the facility's bad debt, it quickly became clear that self-pay accounts coming out of the emergency department (ED) were the root of...

Prepare your hospital for a very unusual flu season: vaccine shortages may wreak havoc with hospital EDs, absenteeism.(planning emergency department management in flu season)
December 1, 2004... With the unprecedented shortage of influenza vaccine this flu season, hospitals are scrambling to prepare for what may be a record number of flu patients presenting to their already overcrowded emergency departments EDs and for staff shortages...

Vendor outlines steps to providing ED service: new reporting schemes developed.(collecting from self-pay patients in emergency departments)
December 1, 2004... When PATHS LLC took on the job of providing financial counseling to self-pay emergency department (ED) patients at Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania Medical Center-Presbyterian, the vendor's first order of business was to distinguish...

No stone unturned in self-pay initiative: 90% of Medicaid-eligible gain coverage.
December 1, 2004... Responding to a rising number of self-pay patients--particularly those coming through the emergency department (ED)--Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) pulled out all the stops to expand and improve its financial counseling program. ...

Scripting popular with ED and customer service: could it be said better?
December 1, 2004... Are you as aware as you could be of how your access employees speak to the customers? Hospitals are increasingly taking note of not only what is said, but the dramatic impact it can have on patients' perception of the care they receive, as well...

Adventist manual aids registrar, manager: directions are concise and consistent.(Adventist Health system )
December 1, 2004... A new best practice registration manual, jointly written by an eight-member team at Adventist Health, has been "very useful" for both new registration hires and admitting managers throughout the hospital system, says Ken Mitchell, MM, CHFP,...

HIPAA privacy requirements considered 'burdensome': first year smoother than expected.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
December 1, 2004... Providers and health plan representatives say two provisions of the HIPAA privacy rule-the requirement to account for certain information disclosures and the requirement to develop agreements with business associates that extend privacy...

EMTALA specialist expounds upon transfers: expert says CMS is unclear on issue.(Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act)
December 1, 2004... An Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requirement regarding the responsibilities of hospitals when a patient is transferred to another facility was clarified recently by Stephen Frew, JD, a risk management consultant and EMTALA...

Immigration status report not required, CMS says.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Hospitals will not be required to report a patient's immigration status to receive funding for uncompensated emergency care provided to undocumented immigrants, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said in a letter to the American...