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What's the most common complaint that Amy M. Kirkland, CHAA, patient access team leader for the emergency department at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, SC, hears from patients? Hands down, it involves frustration over long wait times.
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Rushing by a registration area on your way to a meeting with a hospital administrator, you think you hear an edgy tone in an access employee's voice while she's answering a patient's question. Do you stop to investigate further, or do you continue on your way?
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Often, problems that are a continual thorn in the side for patient access simply cannot be solved without the help of other departments. Likewise, you can spread no small amount of goodwill by helping others with their own troublesome "pain points." Here are some ways to improve cross-departmental relationships:
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Not long ago, the ED at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, NJ, was struggling with waiting times hovering at about four hours.
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In just four months after the launch of an intensive compliance documentation management program (CDMP) Bon Secours St. Francis Health System's Medicare case mix index increased significantly.
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If the experiences of the first hospitals targeted by the Zoned Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs) are any indication, at some point this year, your hospital may receive a surprise visit from an investigator with a law enforcement background who will request medical records to be examined for possible waste, abuse, or fraud.
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No one likes change, and ED managers often face a tough challenge when introducing new processes to their staff.
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Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC, has teamed up with seven employers in the community to provide face-to-face disease management for chronically ill employees.
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Whether patients are being discharged from the hospital to home, another level of care, or transferred to the care of another health care provider, communication is crucial to ensure a safe discharge or transition, says Hussein Tahan, DNSc, MSN, RN, CNA, executive director, international health services at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
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When patients don't follow their discharge instructions and end up back in the hospital, it may be that they simply don't understand what they were supposed to do at home.