Hospital Access Management articles from March 2003

Hospital Access Management archives from March 2003

Hospital's guesthouse and concierge services provide four-star treatment: it's not just a benefit for the hospital and families anymore; it's a must.
March 1, 2003... Cathryne Woolery, operations manager of guest housing for Providence Health System in Portland, OR, is a woman with a mission. "My biggest challenge is how to get the word out that guest housing is needed, that it's not just a benefit...

Access employee goes toe to toe with comfort: knitting together warmth and customer service.
March 1, 2003... An employee in the patient access department at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR, has taken customer service to a new level. Joy Lindner, a retired schoolteacher who works at the information desk at the hospital part...

`Disposable' handbooks are timely and cleaner: system's costs cut dramatically.
March 1, 2003... What if you had 2,000 patient handbooks that needed replacing and virtually no budget with which to do so? That's one of the challenges Marne Bonomo, PhD, inherited about a year and a half ago when she became regional director for patient...

Do blood alcohol tests fall under EMTALA regs? It's not exactly clear, expert says.
March 1, 2003... Confusion still exists over the question of whether police blood alcohol tests trigger a medical screening exam (MSE) under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), according to Stephen A. Frew, JD, a web site publisher and a...

CMS sparks controversy with EMTALA comments: on-call issue is addressed.
March 1, 2003... A top official Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) official recently made a startling public statement on another aspect of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act'. (EMTALA), says EMTALA expert and web site publisher Stephen...

`Confusion, fear' reported as HIPAA deadline nears: it's understandable, access leaders say.
March 1, 2003... Confusion and fear are the name of the game with a broad range of people and organizations as the April 14 compliance date for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule nears. That's according to the...

Dedicated ED registrar streamlines operation: outpatient wait times reduced.
March 1, 2003... When an infusion of radiology patients into the central registration process at Ridgecrest (CA) Regional Hospital led to longer waits and outpatient complaints, admitting/communication team leader Monika Lenz, CHAA, knew it was time for...

APCs, EMTALA concerns pose copay challenges: do you have collection strategy? (Access Feedback).
March 1, 2003... Two issues are standing in the way of successful copay collection at her facility and many others, says Kathy Pajor, director of patient access services at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT. She'd like some feedback from access...

Guidelines issued on smallpox liability.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Guidance outlining protections from liability for injury or death arising from the administration of small pox vaccine has been issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. One section specifies that "hospitals and other...

Federal rule making focus of new web site.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Users can find a federal document, read the full text of the regulation and submit comments on-line via a web site launched recently by the Office of Management and Budget and the Environmental Protection Agency. The web site,...

Fear, anxiety, frustration, and anger on the HIPAA road: OCR should improve HIPAA responses, report says.
March 1, 2003... There is "an extremely high level of confusion, misunderstanding, frustration, anxiety, fear, and anger" in a broad range of people and organizations as the April 14 compliance date for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...

HIPAA deadline looms: is your facility ready? If you're not moving, start.
March 1, 2003... On April 14, covered entities under HIPAA are expected to be in compliance with the new Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information. "This implies that you have to have trained people in what the policies are,"...

HIPAA Q & A.
March 1, 2003... [Editor's note: This is the first in a series of periodic columns that will address specific questions related to implementation of HIPAA. If you have questions regarding these areas or others, please send them to Russ Underwood, HIPAA...

Make these changes to avoid HIPAA violations. (Guest Column).
March 1, 2003... If you don't comply with HIPAA privacy regulations, you may face civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each requirement violated, and criminal penalties of up to $50,000 and one year in prison for obtaining or disclosing protected health...

URAC handbook explains HIPAA security rules.(Utilization Review Accreditation Committee )(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The lack of a final HIPAA security regulation means that your organization doesn't have to provide security for your patient data, right? Wrong, according to a new handbook published by URAC. Your organization already has to protect patient...