Hospital Access Management articles from July 2003

Hospital Access Management archives from July 2003

Want to get a handle on denials? Use these components for best practice: a central clearinghouse for all rejections is a must.
July 1, 2003... In these times of dwindling health care reimbursement, there's no phrase more significant to access managers--and their bosses--than "denial management." There are several key components that must be in place if a hospital is to achieve...

Training, proper plan ID cut denials by $20 million: 'most employees want to do a good job'.
July 1, 2003... Looking at opportunities for improvement after becoming director of patient access at Children's Health Care of Atlanta about two years ago, it was natural that Millie Brown would turn her attention to the quality of registration data. And...

Efficiency, not speed, counts most, experts say: AR days no longer the best benchmark. (Guest Column).(Editorial)
July 1, 2003... Almost every aspect of health care has changed significantly over the last five years, let alone the past 30. Most of us can remember when protecting a patient's privacy was an ethical issue for hospitals and physicians. Now it's a matter of...

Looking for HIPAA help? Resource list may help.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
July 1, 2003... Being educated is the best defense when it comes to ensuring that your hospital is compliant with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Liz Kehrer, CHAM, an experienced access manager who is...

'Free' hospital needs help sending payment message: patients risk health with careless ID use. (Access Feedback).
July 1, 2003... Nancy Stringer, director of patient access at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, MO, would like to know how other nonprofit hospitals deal with the impact of nearby for-profit providers that have much stricter patient payment policies. ...

JCAHO drafts standard for ED overcrowding.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has released a proposed leadership standard on emergency department overcrowding. The proposed standard calls on hospital leaders to develop and implement plans to...

Hospitals picked for ED crowding program.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ten hospital systems have been selected to participate in a national initiative by the Princeton, NJ-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to reduce emergency department (ED) crowding and assess the health care safety net. The health...

Web site offers providers EDI implementation dates.(Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange and the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare have created a web site where providers can get health plan and clearinghouse schedules for testing and implementing electronic transactions...

CMS proposes its new Medicare payment rules.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed rule for inpatient Medicare payments for fiscal year (FY) 2004. Among the key items in the nearly 1,000-page rule are the following: * CMS has calculated the...

Ft. Lauderdale site of Sept. AAHAM conference.
July 1, 2003... The American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM) is holding its Annual National Institute (ANI) Sept. 25-27 at the Marriott's Harbor Beach Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale. AAHAM has co-hosted a conference with the...

More hospitals permitting family during procedures.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... About half the hospitals surveyed for a recent study allow family members to be present during emergency procedures, but only 5% have written policies to that effect. About one-fourth of nurses responding to a survey by the American...

ED visits up 20% since '92, CDC says.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Visits to U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs) have climbed 20% in the past decade, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. EDs received an estimated 107.5 million visits in...

Surveys gauge current state of HIPAA compliance: HIMSS, OIG release results of separate surveys.
July 1, 2003... Now that two significant HIPAA compliance deadlines have passed--the April 14 deadline for health care industry compliance with the privacy rule and the April 16 deadline for health care business operations to begin testing transactions and...

Popular PC applications can cause security leaks: is instant messaging compromising your PHI?(patient health information)
July 1, 2003... A report issued by Palisades Systems Inc. in Ames, IA, and Clive, IA-based HIPAA Academy, says that health care organizations that allow peer-to-peer (P2P) and instant messenger applications to run on their computer networks risk compromising...

Interim rule on monetary penalties to be replaced: final enforcement rule to take effect Sept. 16.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says its interim final rule establishing rules of procedure for the imposition of civil monetary penalties on entities that violate standards adopted under the administrative simplification...

HIPAA affects ability to help law enforcement: specific HIPAA provisions still must be followed.
July 1, 2003... When two police officers arrived at a hospital emergency department asking to be informed if the facility had treated an elderly woman reported missing by her family, hospital staff contacted their outside legal counsel for advice because of...

Company develops business associate agreement: template created to fulfill HIPAA requirements.
July 1, 2003... One of the nation's leading medical messaging services has taken the lead in developing a sound business associate agreement to present to its clients to fulfill HIPAA requirements. Long Island, NY-based MEDFONE Inc., which works strictly...

WEDI seeks transaction and code set guidance: concerns over the compliance of trading partners.(Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange)
July 1, 2003... The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) has asked Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to provide guidance in light of the fact that a substantial number of covered entities will not be able to achieve compliance with...

Software can ease authorization process: electronic records keep facilities connected.
July 1, 2003... As with many areas of health care, new approaches in technology have been sought to ease the way into compliance with HIPAA. One example is the HIPAA GUARD program from Monterey, CA-based Integritas Inc. The program, which can be used...

Companies seek URAC security accreditation.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ten companies operating in more than 20 different sites across the nation are in the process of seeking accreditation under URAC's HIPAA Security Accreditation Program for Covered Entities and Business Associates. URAC president Gary Carneal...

HIPAA.ICC.NET started to facilitate transmission.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ineternet Commerce Corp. says it has created a new service to address the need for health care payers and providers to exchange health care transactions that conform with HIPAA requirements. The new service, known as HIPAA.ICC.NET, incorporates...