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View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
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View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
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View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreThe increased prevalence of high-deductible health plans is having an impact on Patient Access. With this new financial responsibility that lies heavily on patients, there are new functions, a new focus on upfront collections, and greater significance for the way a patient interacts with healthcare staff when it comes to increasing the amount being collected at the point of service. Healthcare providers are asking the frontline staff and other Patient Access colleagues to do far more and assume greater responsibility. In essence, we’re asking them to not only understand the complex regulatory landscape and their role in communicating with patients, but also some of the requirements around the new health plans.
Patient Access Effectiveness is Essential for Healthcare Revenue Cycle
In this kind of environment, where patient consumerism becomes a driving force, Patient Access is where patients begin their interactions with your health system as well as your revenue cycle. Such prominence underscores the importance of healthcare colleagues who are sitting at front desks, collecting and verifying insurance information, talking about patient financial arrangements, and taking scheduling calls—their significance increases exponentially. We all are already aware of the extent to which consumers want to know the price of things—in healthcare this strong trend applies to the cost of any care provided, which requires staff to be knowledgeable regarding insurance benefits and able to communicate effectively about payment liability.
Understanding Often Requires Education
The communication burden falls on Patient Access because organizations and patients expect them to be able to explain regulations, the billing process, cost and expenses, insurance, and coverage. Yet, in much of healthcare, we do not offer the necessary education for this group. The impact on healthcare providers is what you would expect. For example, when it comes to insurance claim denials, a significant number of the errors could have been avoided if individual patient access employees were trained adequately, provided the process and methodology to do their jobs, and understood why it is important.
In the absence of formal training programs, learning to prevent common Patient Access problems may be fragmented, leaving patients and the organization in the lurch. Healthcare organizations need a formal process to train patient access staff to understand not only how to handle such issues as no prior authorization, but why it is done, the rules and regulations around it, and what information needs to be verified. That way, the nightmare of patients receiving a huge bill for an MRI that was denied by insurance, which they wouldn’t have received if the patient access person had done their full job, can be avoided.
Patient Access Education in Action
In a recent article on hitconsultant.net, co-authors Beth Ottinger, Senior Director of Educational Consulting and Quality at HealthStream Partner nThrive, and Michael Maggard, Executive Director of Patient Access for Mission Health System, wrote about how they used education to build and strengthen Mission Health’s patient access workforce, which resulted in a “positive impact it had on the department as well as improvement in Revenue Cycle Key Performance Indicators.”
Some features of the Mission Health program included:
References
All quotations are from:
Ottinger, B., and Maggard, M., “Solving the Patient Access Labor Supply Challenge,” HIT Consultant, 06/27/2018, Retrieved at https://hitconsultant.net/2018/06/27/patient-access-supply-challenge/.
Learn more about HealthStream Revenue Cycle Solutions, including Patient Access training from nThrive Education, click hereHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's Provider Credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
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