Hospital Access Management articles from May 2004

Hospital Access Management archives from May 2004

Access reaction is varied as government calls for discounts to uninsured patients; some hospitals clarifying policies, educating staff.
May 1, 2004... Encouragement from the Bush administration for hospitals to give discounts to uninsured patients and financially needy Medicare beneficiaries will have little impact, say some access professionals surveyed by Hospital Access Management, mostly...

Clinic for financially needy part of aid program: 'health insurance plan' targets working uninsured.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... As part of the financial aid program at the New Orleans-based Touro Infirmary, there is a clinic for uninsured or underinsured patients, says Beth Keith, CHAM, director of patient business services. Patients may use the facility if family...

Hospitals required to offer free or discounted care: Florida, Illinois take action.
May 1, 2004... At least two state legislatures have taken action in recent weeks regarding free or discounted health care services for uninsured patients, according to reports in the on-line news service, AHA News Now. A Florida House committee passed...

Hospital increases focus on customer service: poll highlights compassion's healing role.
May 1, 2004... An "all-employee" guest-relations program at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago aims to increase both the hospital's market share and its Press Ganey Associates patient satisfaction scores. The effort began about two years ago, with a...

Web site for access staff is 'day-to-day' resource: insurance, training materials available.
May 1, 2004... When access personnel at the University Hospital of Arkansas in Little Rock decided they would benefit from having their own resource web site, they sent the proposal to the information technology (IT) department, says Holly Jones, CHAM, a...

Web sites suggest ways to push access boundaries: 'open visiting,' patient safety highlighted.
May 1, 2004... Access managers could benefit by "stretching a bit beyond their boundaries" and actively seeking participation in the clinical side of health care, suggests Karen McKinley, RN, CHAM, vice president of patient access and care management for...

Report highlights provider shortage.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Thirty-six million Americans do not have access to basic health care because they live in communities with an acute shortage of health care providers, according to a state-by-state analysis by the Bethesda, MD-based National Association of...

Latest HIMSS survey shows slow compliance: only half of respondents completed TCS testing.(Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)
May 1, 2004... The latest survey of 631 providers, payers, companies, and clearinghouses by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) indicates that as of mid-January, only half had completed testing for the Transaction and Code...

Workgroup urges patience on HIPAA compliance: entities making 'good-faith effort,' WEDI says.
May 1, 2004... The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), which advises the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues related to administrative simplification under HIPAA, says the agency should show continued patience as covered...

Researchers: HIPAA may hurt outcomes studies: rules affect ability to follow patients post-discharge.
May 1, 2004... University of Michigan (UM) researchers said at the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology held March 7-10 in New Orleans that HIPAA has significantly affected their ability to study heart attack patients after they are...

Possible incentive for physician compliance: reduced premiums could boost compliance.
May 1, 2004... A security consulting firm that is providing security risk assessment and compliance review services for small health care related businesses says one way to increase incentives for physicians to come into compliance with HIPAA requirements...