HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
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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 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 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
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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Ormondroyd begins by mentioning the outdated concept of patient access—“the people that smile and check people in.”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.”
HealthStream’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 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 & ComplianceBe confident in your staff’s ability to reduce risk by providing compliance training that changes behavior.
View All ProductsDevelop next-level people for next-level care by prioritizing quality and safety improvements.
View All ProductsStandardize policy and procedure management with an automated, customized, and centralized system.
View All ProductsEstablish a culture of belonging with education supporting DEI, wellness, engagement, and leadership development.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementStreamline the revenue cycle management process and protect your bottom line with expert-backed education.
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 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 ProductsComprehensive, industry-leading provider onboarding and credentialing software that validate health outcomes and support provider assessment.
View All CredentialingOur affordable CVO credentialing services establish patient safety by enabling primary source verification for your healthcare organization.
View All ProductsIntegrate with Epic to validate and add new providers directly to your provider master file.
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 workforce management is essential. We provide advanced scheduling solutions for organizations to solve issues such as nurse retention
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