Let us help you understand and execute EMTALA friendly cash collections within your ED

As we head into fall, we at HWS are very excited and proud to bring you an exciting offer on “EMTALA Strategies within the Revenue Cycle”.

As we all know, EMTALA can be daunting in terms of executing processes, understanding do’s and don’ts and impacting the revenue cycle in a positive manner within the Emergency Departments across the US.

As a consultant, I am on the ground running so to speak. Imagine my HORROR when I heard a recent client say that it “violates EMTALA to collect patient portions in the ED!” .... EMTALA. Eeeek!!! What do I do next? Do I educate them? Did I misunderstand the statement? What I learned, to my dismay, is that another consulting firm had wrongly interpreted EMTALA and had informed this client that hospitals cannot collect patient portions in the ED. Additionally, this consulting firm also misinformed a very busy CFO who does not have time to review Federal Rules and Regulations.

Over the years, I have found many client facilities (like the above) need further clarification on the rule and regulations of EMTALA. By not understanding this crucial piece of legislation, hospitals operate at an extreme disadvantage and miss out on many opportunities to provide a higher level of both clinical and patient financial care. As a commitment to our industry, patient satisfaction and the revenue cycle as a whole I decided at that point the industry needed a comprehensive EMTALA training platform.

So, here it is. Please review and if you are not satisfied, return for a full refund within 5-days.
Click here to view more information and order the kit.

Best, 

Pattie Kloehn

Providing Patient Estimates is in Revenue Cycle Vogue

Do you remember ten years ago, when electronic insurance verification was taking off but wasn’t quite as efficient as we would have hoped for? Many times insurance providers’ sites were down, and there was no consistency between the layout of a government-sponsored site for Medicare and the confusing layouts unique to each- and every- major insurance company. Sites required a unique login and password per employee, and it was difficult for employees to wrap their head around the specificity of the work, including the idea that it was “Best Practice” to have employees split by payer in order to work accounts. This was one of the only ways to exercise efficiency rather than cross-functional working.

On the road as a consultant for over twenty years, I remember going to hospitals and physician organizations of all sizes throughout the country. We would develop crosswalks for employees to understand the electronic insurance verification code. I developed a training manual for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit that had pictures of the insurance providers’ responses and what it actually meant. I have to say, I FELT for the front-line! What a mess!!! Getting on the phone and waiting 15-20 minutes per response was almost the only way to guarantee you understood that patient’s benefits!!

Luckily, today's electronic insurance verification has come around by leaps and bounds. With the integration of the 270/271 payer response, real-time integration is not only possible, it is mainstream. Granted, there are still flaws, but the data integrity is hands down 90% better than the days of old.

Patient Liability Estimation

Patient liability estimation seems to be riding a similar wave. Just 2-3 years ago, many hospitals, clinics and physician offices doubted the sophistication of estimate tools and also the sophistication of the patient. Administrators nationwide still believed that providing estimates or asking for up-front payment might negatively impact patient satisfaction.

Healthcare providers of all classification – acute care, clinic, physician organization – are realizing that providing patients estimates prior to service or at the time of discharge in some Outpatient and Emergency Department settings, is not only what patients want … but they expect it. Furthermore, this is a sure way to INCREASE PATIENT SATISFACTION!

Catch the wave!!! Listen to how we helped a multi-health system provide patient estimates and in turn gain an estimated $28-million dollar income statement improvement!

~ Pattie Kloehn

How can an EMR Cart Improve POS Collections and Patient Satisfaction?

EMR Carts & Bed Side Registration/Financial Counseling
Electronic Medical Records carts have proven to be the perfect solution to bedside registration and bedside financial counseling. Imagine a “mini-office” which will allow you to access the patient’s open accounts, Register them at bedside, offer them a prompt pay and settlement discount, generate a Patient Liability Form for them to take home and if they pay … you can accept payment and offer them a mini-receipt right from your mobile EMR cart!
What’s the best part about this process designed by HealthWide Solutions? Each and every patient receives consistent financial discussion. In a way, it represents MANDATORY FINANCIAL DISCUSSIONS. No more putting the discussion at discharge where very few of the patients are actually seen.

In addition to the financial benefits, patient satisfaction improves. Why?
·      Time to treatment is decreased with bedside registration.
·      Hospital staff will shuffle, while your patient stays put. Once they are in a treatment       
room, Clinical and Registration staff work seamlessly with each patient to ensure that they receive the best possible care.
·      The Doctor will indicate when it is the best time for Registration staff to complete the patient’s registration at your bedside.

Case Study
Florence Hospital, (169 beds, Florence KY) and Ft. Thomas Hospital, (204 beds, Ft. Thomas, KY) both part of the St. Elizabeth Healthcare System have both achieved dramatic success with their mobile EMR carts and bedside registration/financial counseling within their Emergency Departments.  The process was designed and implemented in February, 2011. To date, both facilities have achieved $120,000 over a 9-week period in cash collections. The process includes electronic insurance verification powered by RevRunner, a McKesson Financial Product; process flow, scripting and a Patient Liability Form designed by HealthWide Solutions. 

Stay tuned for greater updates to this exciting pathway as these hospitals begin to provide bill estimates in the Emergency Department from FHS’ Clear Quote product which integrates with McKesson’s insurance verification pathway. Our goal is to increase cash collections from $30,000 - $40,000 per month to $100,000 or greater for these facilities.

Feedback Matters!

On May 19^th2011, I will be speaking at the Southwestern Ohio HFMA May Institute Conference. HealthWide Solutions is also scheduled to speak at the 37^th Annual NAHAM Conference during the Industry Sponsored Symposium on May 25^th 2011. Both HFMA and NAHAM are great peer organizations and I have been involved with them for years. I think these conferences offer a great opportunity to bring industry peers together to  learn more about what hospitals and health systems do to achieve revenue cycle excellence. I also enjoy teaching and sharing  my own revenue cycle “recipes” which have benefitted so many of my clients.

In both speaking engagements I will focus on management and the strategies and technology which can help us turn our employees into stars and our organizations into best-performers. I have been working in healthcare change-management for over 20 years and I cannot stress how vital  a positive attitude towards management is. Staff need feedback on their performance and the way you give feedback, the words you choose, the frequency in which you give it, and the mode in which it arrives matters. During my presentations, I will go over several ways (from phraseology to HWS technology) in which we as managers can improve the way we communicate feedback to line staff as well as track the performance of our organizations as a whole. I will also touch on some very interesting historical studies which demonstrate how even the smallest amount of feedback can have an enormous impact on staff morale, productivity and team cohesion. During both presentations, I will be showcasing our new, state of the art Dashboard platform, Recalibrate©, which is going to change the way healthcare facilities measure and communicate performance.

I look forward to seeing my clients, colleagues, peers and friends at both of these engagements! We’re so thankful to both NAHAM and HFMA for giving us this platform to present and meet with you all.

To get more information on both the HFMA talk or the NAHAM Symposium, visit us at www.healthwidesolutions.com!

Kind Regards,

Pattie Kloehn, CEO

HealthWide Solutions

Driving change through sustainable solutions.