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.

November 26, 2008 (Volume 1, Issue 78)

CMS UPDATE: CMS rescinds and replaces previous transmittal on Medicare deductible, coinsurance, and premium rates for 2009
On November 17, CMS rescinded and replaced its November 7 transmittal updating the Medicare deductible, coinsurance, and premium rates for 2009. The new transmittal adds information inadvertently left out in section 20.6 of the manual. The 2009 income parameters for determining the Part B premium were not complete. All other information remains the same. Effective date: January 1, 2009 Implementation date: January 5, 2009. View the transmittal.

PATIENT ACCESS GOALS: Coping with a major remodel
Beth Hunley, registration manager at Jay County Hospital in Portland, IN, shared with us her facility’s goals as it undergoes a major overhaul of its hospital: We are currently doing a major remodel of our hospital focusing on our ancillary services, including the patient registration department. The goals for our new area are as follows: Move forward with a professional dress code that will complement our new area Develop a new customer service plan that focuses on: Patients first Compassion Walking a mile in the patient’s shoes Giving all your attention to the patient sitting in front of you. Patients will be escorted to the registration booths instead of being told to have a seat. Patients now have a choice of where they receive their medical care, and we want to be that choice at Jay County Hospital. Implement an electronic medical records system Implement “GUI” registration instead of character-based registration Implement a switchboard operator Hold training sessions for all employees, focusing on any weaknesses in a positive manner Complete the CHAM exam (for myself) and CHAA (for the registration employees)

NEWS: Unapproved drugs still sold
Medicaid still covers drugs not reviewed by the government – about $200 million worth since 2004, the Associated Press reports. The medications – linked to dozens of deaths – are decades old. The Food and Drug Administration had less restrictive measures then and has tried, to no avail, to eliminate them from the market. Get the full story in the Associated Press.

What's new on PARC?
Check out this form the TMF Health Quality Institute uses to explain the differences between observation and inpatient status. See our "Management Tool of the Month" on our home page on the Patient Access Resource Center.

Other recently-published articles from Patient Access Weekly Advisor:

Winner in patient access

Download these Revenue Cycle Institute white papers

National health spending growth at slowest pace since 1999

Delivering the Advanced Directive form

Crisis in the ER

Former Cedars-Sinai employee held for identity theft, fraud

Download these Revenue Cycle Institute white papers

What’s new on PARC?

NEWS: Bank VP gets three years in jail for Medicare fraud

CMS launches annual provider satisfaction survey

ACCESS SUCCESS in 2008

REPORT: US emergency rooms getting creative

Download these Revenue Cycle Institute white papers

FROM THE EXPERT: RAC protection

CMS provides status of PQRI

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