HCPro.com: Patient Access Weekly Advisor

PAWA offers best-practice tips from access professionals across the country who have found success with innovative approaches to problems. PAWA will also include a timely news brief to help you fine-tune processes and develop solutions for ongoing problems, such as collecting more money upfront and determining deductibles on high-deductible health plans.

April 23, 2008 (Volume 1, Issue 47)

Massachusetts receives $4.6M grant
CMS awarded Massachusetts a $4.6 million grant to control healthcare costs by minimizing unnecessary emergency department visits, the Boston Globe reports.

Decrease denied claims
Before approaching a managed care company to address a technical denial or a clinical denial, ensure that you have addressed process issues inside your hospital. Having done so will help you minimize denials that are the hospital’s fault and avoid the inevitable payer accusation that your hospital cannot get its own house in order.

Develop scripting to train staff on cost estimates
The focus of the new ABN training should be on the new requirement for access staff members to provide a cost estimate of the service to the patient, says Yvonne Focke, RN, BSN, MBA, regional director of revenue cycle management at Mercy Health Partners in Cincinnati. Focke says scripting may be the best training method regarding the cost estimate.

Other recently-published articles from Patient Access Weekly Advisor:

It was great to meet you!

TIP: Develop a patient screening process for payment plan eligibility

TIP: Handle patient calls effectively

NEWS: Medicaid Cash and Counseling program expanding

TIP: Ensure Advance Directive form compliance

TIP: Understand the fine print of the new ABN

NEWS: Health savings plans attracting more enrollees

Constructing a new policy and procedure manual

Form a pricing list

House votes down Medicaid cutbacks

What’s new on PARC this week?

Develop scripting to train staff on cost estimates

Decrease denied claims

Massachusetts receives $4.6M grant

HCPro at the NAHAM Conference

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