During hurricane, ‘no such thing as titles’ in patient access areas
During hurricane, ‘no such thing as titles’ in patient access areas
Managers worked hard to maintain morale
Patient access employees arrived for work before Hurricane Sandy in October knowing that their shift could last for 24 hours or more, reports Linda Radcliffe, CHAM, manager of patient business services at Virtua Berlin, a hospital in Berlin, NJ.
“As the storm raged, power in the towns surrounding us was out, and it seemed like complete darkness all around. The uncertainty we were facing was scary,” says Radcliffe. “Looking out of the emergency room doors, all you could see was driving rain and darkness. It was a very eerie feeling.”
Pattie Froehling, director of the revenue cycle at North Shore Health System in Manhasset, NY, says that in a crisis such as Sandy, “there are no titles at that point. Everybody rolls up their sleeves, chips in, and does what they need to do.”
In patient access areas at New Brunswick, NJ-based Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, “everyone — managers, supervisor, directors, assistant directors, and registrars — joined in and helped. This boosted the staff’s morale tremendously,” says Lazara Richardson, ED registration manager.
According to Joan Braveman, corporate director patient access of Lourdes Health System in Camden, NJ, “during a crisis, having a manager work side by side with you has more meaning than anything else you can do.”
Here are some challenges patient access leaders faced during Hurricane Sandy:
• Registrars already at the hospital couldn’t make it home, and others couldn’t make it in.
At North Shore Health System’s hospitals, some registrars stayed overnight and slept on blow-up mattresses. “For our registration staff, there is an expectation that you need to be there. It’s just part of the nature of the job that they have,” Froehling says. “They are putting their families on the backburner to make sure patients get what they need.”
Some registrars who didn’t make it in during the storm managed to report for work the next day despite lack of power, no public transportation, and downed power lines, adds Froehling. To maintain morale for registrars who worked through the storm, Froehling gave “continuous positive feedback. Staff were fearful for their families as well.”
As the storm worsened, registrars asked if they could leave, although many were ready to spend the night if necessary, says Shelley Edwards, CHAA, patient access manager at Lourdes. Once it was determined that other departments had adequate staffing, registrars who lived furthest away were allowed to leave first.
“There was a lot of anxiety over, ‘Am I going to be able to get back home?’” says Edwards, who made staffing decisions based in part on updates given by the hospital’s disaster planning department, which covered road closures, downed power lines, and areas of power loss.
Braveman says, “Those updates were really helpful. It looked like there was going to be a lull in the storm, so we sent staff home at that time. We then asked the night shift to come in early.”
Some of the members of Virtua’s patient access staff stayed through the night. They took turns working, and then tried to catch some sleep napping on cots or wherever they could find some quiet space. “The second shift on Monday came in early so the morning staff could rest,” says Radcliffe. “The Monday night shift was canceled, as was the first shift on Tuesday, so that colleagues would not have to venture out in the worst storm of our lifetime.” Mostly ambulance patients were admitted during those shifts, which were staffed by the day shift employees who stayed over to work.
• Patient access staff had to register transferred patients from evacuated facilities.
“The number one thing was making sure they are comfortable, and communication to ease the patient’s mind that the family was contacted and knew where they were,” Braveman says. “We made sure all the demographic information was correct so we could contact family members.”
• Patient access staff had to notify patients about canceled appointments.
Once the decision to cancel all elective surgeries the following day was made at Lourdes, the patient access team immediately started calling patients to alert them, as well as patients scheduled for preoperative testing.
“Only one person showed up, out of hundreds that we schedule each day, and we did service recovery for him,” says Edwards.
At the same time, registrars fielded dozens of calls from patients and family members who wanted to know if their appointment was canceled. “It was a tremendous amount of phone calls. We took some of the burden off of the outpatient diagnostic departments and surgery,” says Edwards.
Registrars gave patients the central scheduling number to reschedule their appointments, because they couldn’t connect them to that number at the time. “We identified that as an area that we really did not have a good backup plan for,” Braveman says. “Unfortunately, the phone system in that building went down, and patients weren’t able to even leave messages.”
• Managers set up charging stations for cell phones and computers, which allowed staff members access to their personal email or social media sites.
Annemarie Rappleyea, CPAR, patient access supervisor for the emergency department at Community Medical Center in Toms River, NJ, allowed her staff to make numerous calls to get through to their families. Several returned to working with their mind at ease after learning their family had safely relocated.
• Managers did hourly rounds with staff to address personal issues.
Patient access managers at Community Medical Center normally round with staff weekly to update them on department issues, but these rounds were mostly focused on staff’s own needs. One registrar needed to leave to relocate her family, and another registrar with small children was provided with gas for the family’s generator.
“A lot of staff were worried about their own families. We and asked them if there was anything they needed at home that we could assist with,” says Rappleyea. “We told them they were doing a tremendous job.”
Sources
For more information on patient access roles during disasters, contact:
• Joan Braveman, Corporate Director, Patient Access, Lourdes Health System, Camden, NJ. Phone: (856) 757-3676. Email: [email protected].
• Shelley Edwards, CHAA, Lourdes Health System, Camden, NJ. Phone: (856) 365-4078. Fax: (856) 968-2587. Email: [email protected].
• Pattie Froehling, Director, Revenue Cycle, North Shore Health System, Manhasset. Phone: (718) 470-4338. Fax: (718) 470-7421. Email: [email protected].
• Kathy MacGillivray, MHA, Access Management Services Director, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ. Phone: (732) 937-8909. Fax: (732) 418-8139. Email: [email protected].
• Linda K. Radcliffe, CHAM, Patient Access Manager, Virtua, Berlin, NJ. Phone: (856) 322-3168. Fax: (856) 322-3007. Email: [email protected].
• Annemarie Rappleyea, CPAR, Patient Access Supervisor, Emergency Department, Community Medical Center, Toms River, NJ. Phone: (732) 557-8167. Email: [email protected].
Patient access employees arrived for work before Hurricane Sandy in October knowing that their shift could last for 24 hours or more, reports Linda Radcliffe, CHAM, manager of patient business services at Virtua Berlin, a hospital in Berlin, NJ.Subscribe Now for Access
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