An Inside Look at Massachusetts Patient Access: By Rick Hollis Interim Editor

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1 An Inside Look at Massachusetts Patient Access: [The Holidays are upon us.] By Rick Hollis Interim Editor

2 "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison Inside This Month s Newsletter President s Letter (p. 3) Fall Meeting Sessions (p. 4) Membership Renewal (p. 5) Access Personnel Week (p. 5) Membership Update (p. 6) Calendar of Events (p. 7) Education Input (p. 8) MAHAM MISSION STATEMENT MAHAM is the resource providing professional growth and knowledge to our membership, through the exchange of ideas, to support and promote Patient Access Services. 2

3 A Note From Your President Greetings and Salutations MAHAM Members! The 2011 Holiday season is upon us and I hope this newsletter finds you to be in good spirits and good health. In this newsletter there are some articles describing some of the sessions provided at the September MAHAM meeting. For those who were not able to make it, we certainly missed having you there, but fear not, MAHAM has some upcoming events. On January 31, we will be hosting a free Webinar for members. I wish you and yours a wonderful, safe, healthy holiday season. Happy Holidays. Rick Hollis 3

4 CAREER LADDER Sandra Clay-Hillyard and Linette Farris managers at Lowell General Hospital presented an overview of their career ladder system at the fall MAHAM meeting. The Career Ladder is one program that supports Lowell General Hospital s efforts to foster both staff development and retention of employees in the Patient Access Department. Offered to employees with at least two years of PA experience, it provides reward and recognition for exemplary performance in clearly defined areas. The design was modeled after the Nursing Division s Clinical Advancement Program. The responsibility for maintaining one s status on the Ladder belongs to the individual employee. Benchmarks include volume, quality, collections, standards of performance, cross-training, mentoring, peer interviewing and outstanding attitude all of which are aligned with specific metrics. The financial rewards of either $1/hr for Tier 2 or $2/hr for Tier 3 are granted annually and are not part of the base pay. The return on investment for LGH from the Career Ladder coupled with other PA initiatives has been an improved retention rate, a decrease in days in A/R and improved employee satisfaction. PATIENT PORTAL PRESENTATION Larry Bradley, Director of Patient Financial Services at St. Joseph s Hospital in Nashua, New Hampshire, presented an overview of their patient portal system at the fall MAHAM meeting. While some of the driving forces around this initiative were producing cleaner claims and providing a billing process that was easier for patients to understand, Mr. Bradley discussed the additional advantages for the organization. Patient payment portals allow for 24/7 online payment options with the ability to verify patient and guarantor data. Once patients elect to sign up for this feature, they have access to view the status of their claims and the availability to questions or concerns directly to the Business office. Patients will also have access to the organizations online policies and procedures. From a patient perspective, the benefits include round-the-clock access to their accounts with access to FAQs and to the Charitable Care Application. Electronic patient payments have reduced the risk with handling sensitive patient financial information. With this transparency and ability to track and view patient statements, patient are empowered and self sufficient. Increased patient satisfaction has demonstrated the positive impact this tool has had for St. Joseph s Hospital. The benefits for the organization s business office are just as appealing. As the number of phone calls and manually entered payments are reduced, the opportunity to reallocate business office and cashiering resources has provided additional flexibility for that department. With the convenience of the on-line application and ease of use, collection rates have boosted, reported Mr. Bradley. 4

5 The patient portal offers so much more than electronic payments. Some of the future improvements to be implemented range from electronic notification of payments due to changes in account status. Front end processes can be enhanced by the portal with having the opportunity to request an appointment or pre-register utilizing this online option. As hospitals, such as St. Joseph, continue to look for opportunities to improve and ensure patient satisfaction with every interaction, a well organized, easy to use patient payment portal system is certainly worth looking into for its added value to any organization. MEMBERSHIP Reminder of 2012 Renewals of Membership Invoices have been mailed to members for their 2012 membership dues. Please watch out for this promises to be another educationally packed year with networking opportunities throughout. It is an exciting time to be a MAHAM member as the membership grows and there are new ideas abounds. Your membership and information sharing is an important part of the success of this organization and for that we wanted to say Thanks! Refer-A-Member Campaign Watch the mail for our new Refer-A-Member campaign and your chance to win an Amazon Kindle Fire. Each referral of a new member will gain you one entry in the drawing to be held in early April. Thank you to the 2012 Refer-A-Member Campaign sponsor Higgins3. National Healthcare Access Personnel Week April 1-7, 2012 Patient Access drives healthcare! We provide quality care in patient registration and all of its support processes to patients, providers, and payors throughout a patient's healthcare experience. Not only do we represent the first impression, becoming the face for the entire facility, but we also serve as the key component in putting every healthcare visit in motion. It all starts and ends with patient access management and we truly do pave the road to success for our patients and our facilities! Established in 1982, National Healthcare Access Personnel Week is a week-long celebration of the people in the patient access profession. The date marks the anniversary of the National 5

6 Association of Healthcare Access Management, the only national professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence within the field. The celebrations span the entire week surrounding the anniversary, April 5. Join us in recognizing healthcare access professionals for their continued accomplishments of service in the healthcare access continuum by celebrating National Healthcare Access Personnel Week, April 1-7, Welcome to the following new member(s) of MAHAM: Michelle White Director of Revenue Systems Winchester Hospital Membership Has Its Privileges! 1. Great meetings with speakers covering a wide range of Patient Access topics. 2. Educational Webinars. 3. Our monthly newsletter. 4. A forum through which to ask & answer questions that challenge today s Patient Access professionals. 4. An Outreach/Mentor Program WELCOME TO MAHAM Help increase the membership of MAHAM! Bring a friend from your department to one of our meetings so they can see what all the excitement is about! 6

7 January EDUCATION WEBINAR January 31, 12:00p-1:00p April JOINT MEETING WITH MAPAM

8 HELP IS A CLICK AWAY! What are you working on? What topics are topping your admission area chart these days? Here is a chance to use your MAHAM membership to get a leg up on current issues. Click on the links below and your Education Chairpersons topics of interest. MAHAM will make every attempt to feature this subject in future newsletter articles and attempt to schedule speakers with strong knowledge on the subject at either the next meeting, or in a webinar for our members. Help is just a click away at jonathan.west@twsg.com. 8