Make sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
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View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
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View All ProductsHealthStream 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.
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View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
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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.
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View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
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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.
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 ProductsHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
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View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
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 MoreOur recent HealthStream webinar, “Thinking Outside the Box: Leveraging Education to Drive Patient Access Initiatives,” featured two executives from our partner nThrive—Thomas Ormondroyd, President of Education & Analytics, and Erica Franko, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Advisory Services—who are also revenue cycle staffing experts.
Our recent HealthStream webinar, “Thinking Outside the Box: Leveraging Education to Drive Patient Access Initiatives,” featured two executives from our partner nThrive—Thomas Ormondroyd, President of Education & Analytics, and Erica Franko, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Advisory Services—who are also revenue cycle staffing experts. This blog post excerpts an article based on the Webinar.
Patient Access Importance Far Greater Than Perceived Level and Pay Scale
Ormondroyd begins by mentioning the outdated concept of patient access—“the people that smile and check people in.” He adds, “That can’t be further from the truth.” Ormondroyd offers, “There’s more responsibility and expectations” than ever placed on these individuals, even though “we haven’t really done a good enough job of providing education and knowledge” to them. Their responsibilities include “many detailed [and] difficult things like collecting money, giving financial counseling, and doing major tasks that have a significant impact on the revenue cycle.”
“They are also some of the lowest-paid individuals in the revenue cycle,” Ormondroyd states. One reason they deserve more focus is that “45% to 90% of claim denials could be prevented by doing a better job of verifying and gaining patient information.” Ormondroyd emphasizes, “If that’s where the majority of denials are coming from, then we need to make sure that staff is capable of ensuring information is accurate.”
Increased Patient Responsibility Elevates the Role of Patient Access
Franko shares how the increased prevalence of high-deductible health plans is having an impact on patient access, telling listeners, “There are new functions, a new focus on upfront collections, and in the way the patient interacts with your staff when it comes to increasing the amount being collected at the point of service.” Ultimately, “We are asking the frontline staff or patient access colleagues to do more. 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.”
In this kind of environment, where patient consumerism becomes a driving force, “Patient access is the gateway not only to your system but also to your revenue cycle; the importance of our colleagues who are sitting at the front desks, who are taking scheduling calls, increases exponentially.” Consumers want to know the price of things—in healthcare this means the cost of their care, which requires that staff are knowledgeable regarding insurance benefits and communicate well about payment liability. Franko shares how “the lack of expectation setting can influence the patient’s behavior and ultimately how they perceive the service.”Just one example of where to prevent denials is in the common case of no prior authorization. In the absence of formal training, learning to prevent this problem 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 the 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.”
Expand 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 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's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
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 ProductsDelivers everything you need to request, gather, and validate information about a provider to create a single source of truth for downstream processes.
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 ProductsHealthStream’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 ProductsImprove the preparedness of your staff, increase survival rates, and cut costs with the advanced resuscitation training services from HealthStream.
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 ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementHealthcare 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.
View All Products