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Auditing the registration process

Healthcare Auditing Weekly, May 31, 2005

It's helpful to conduct an audit to ensure that the registration staff in your organization captures the information needed to obtain accurate reimbursement. Start with these three steps:

1. Review policies and procedures.

• Existing registration policies and procedures
• Determine whether the policies are up-to-date, whether staff know about them, and whether staff have access to these policies
• Review any consulting or process improvements that the organization has completed in these areas

2. Interview staff.

• Ask registration staff how they would change the registration process
• Ask whether they feel they have all the tools necessary to do their jobs
• Interview managers to determine their understanding of the registration process and identify any problems they are aware of

3. Identify key information necessary for registration. Staff should capture the following information:

• Demographic information
• Referral information
• Insurance information
• Medicare Secondary Payer questionnaire (for inpatients)

Look for next week's issue when we go over three more steps for auditing the registration process.

The above tip is an excerpt from the book "Hospital Auditing and Monitoring: Sample Programs for Key Risk Areas," copyright 2005 by HCPro, Inc. This book is a step-by-step, practical manual that offers sample audit programs for the most troublesome areas that a hospital must audit. The binder and CD-ROM are filled with actual audit programs used by auditors and compliance officers in the field. Click here for more information or to order your copy today.

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