Hospital Access Management articles from February 2005

Hospital Access Management archives from February 2005

Challenges of Florida hurricanes brings out the best in HCA staff: many heroes from these disasters.(Hospital Corporation of America)
February 1, 2005... When a series of four hurricanes hit the coasts of Florida during August and September 2004, it was the worst of times and the best of times, says Lois Holcomb, regional patient access director for Hospital Corporation of America's (HCA's)...

One-on-one education is key to Virtua success: auditor/educators play big role.(Virtua Health)
February 1, 2005... By implementing a comprehensive full circle of training for patient access employees--which ultimately led to the creation of two new areas within the department--Marlton, NJ-based Virtua Health has dramatically increased both registration...

Service excellence begins with behavioral change: initiative works because everyone owns it.(Sandy Gregg, director of Service Excellence for Providence Health System)(Interview)
February 1, 2005... "This is a journey; we'll know we've arrived when they don't need us anymore, says Sandy Gregg, RN, MN, MHA, director of service excellence for Providence Health System in Portland, OR. "My goal is to work myself out of a job." Although...

Automated telephonic tool reduces pre-cert hassles: time staff spend on hold slashed dramatically.(VoiCert)
February 1, 2005... An authorization system recently implemented at the University Hospital of Arkansas in Little Rock is on track to streamline the pre-certification process and reduce payer denials, explains Holly Hiryak, RN, CHAM, director of hospital...

Uncompensated care at $24.9 billion in 2003.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... U.S. hospitals provided $24.9 billion in uncompensated care in 2003, up from $22.3 billion in 2002, according to the latest American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals. The survey measure includes charity care and bad...

NUBC seeks comment on billing data revisions.(The National Uniform Billing Committee)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC), which maintains the billing data set for institutional health care providers, is seeking comment from hospitals and others on proposed revisions to the form and data set used to process health care...

Senior health care costs affecting public funding.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... A recent report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary concludes that higher relative health care spending by seniors, and their faster population growth will increase pressure on public funding of health care...

CMS: discounts for uninsured patients OK.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued much-anticipated additional guidance confirming that hospitals can offer discounts to any uninsured patients without putting the hospital's Medicare payments at risk. The agency issued...

CMS survey to assess satisfaction with FIs.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is developing a new survey to assess providers' satisfaction with the services provided by fiscal intermediaries and other Medicare fee-for-service contractors. A draft survey is being...

Two HIPAA privacy provisions 'unnecessarily burdensome': GAO report gauges provider reaction to privacy rule.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; Government Accountability Office)
February 1, 2005... A survey of providers, health plans, patient representatives, and others conducted by Congress' General Accounting Office (GAO) found providers and health plans believe that implementation of the HIPAA privacy rule went more smoothly than...

Requirements on copying cost charges confusing: what costs are considered reasonable?(charges for copies of medical records)
February 1, 2005... What used to be a fairly routine occurrence for many health care providers--supplying copies of patient medical records on request--is becoming a major issue under HIPAA because of questions about how much can be charged for a copy of the...

CMS issues first of seven security guidance papers: paper provides security rule overview.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(information on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
February 1, 2005... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the first in a projected series of seven papers to provide guidance for covered entities. Security 101 is an overview of the HIPAA security rule requirements and implementation and a...