Understanding the Patient Intake Process
Tabitha Neufind
HCR 22
September 28,210
Felecia Pettit-Wallace
Understanding the Patient Intake Process The intake process of patients is different from practice to practice, but the main purpose of the process is retrieve new and established patients information during check in at a providers office, a hospital, or clinic. By having an efficient intake process a efficient patient flow can be maintained. Healthcare just like any other type of service industry is reliant on possessing satisfied clientele. Scheduling practices help to manage the patient flow by establishing certain guidelines regarding how late a patient can arrive, and still be seen without disrupting the patient flow
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If a patient has a co-pay is the co-pay required at the time of service or can they be billed for it at a later date. For patients without medical insurance making them aware of their financial obligations helps to reduce the time that is spent explaining the financial aspects. Let the patient know that the provider is willing to make payment arrangements, or that they offer a discount for payment in full at the time of service, or maybe there is a sliding fee scale that is offered based on the patients income. Offering financial assistance is just not helpful to those without insurance, but also to those that do have insurance. Patients can sometimes have high out-of-pocket expenses and deductibles that they are required to pay for certain services. Financial counseling informs the patient of their financial responsibility and how the practice is willing to help so that they can receive the care that they need. Having a good patient flow is key to establishing a respected practice with patients who are happy, and healthy. Patient flow not only effects the amount of time a patient waits to see a doctor, but also effects the time and care that a doctor has to spend with their patients. There are a variety of techniques that a practices, clinics, and hospitals can implement to ensure a that the intake process is effective and maintains a good patient flow.
References
Okotie, O. T.(2008). The Effect of Patient Arrival Time on Overall
In the past two decades, a lot of changes have been characterised in the healthcare working systems. One of these changes has been the assimilation of shift work systems and the flexibility in work schedules. The need for 24 hour care makes the healthcare professions to work with different shift systems such as 12 h, 8 h, 9 h or 10 hour shifts. However, the common shift work systems divide a 24-h day in two (12-h) or three (8-h) shifts. Nonetheless, this requires the staff to be adapted with the various forms of shift work schedules.
During the process the patient is given medication to take at their own free will, and by their own physical ability. There has to be two physicians present during this process to ensure that there is a witness present during the administration of the medication. To start the process the patient must send in written requests, and a physician has to approve the patient
Each facility has their specific way of scheduling and protocol for staffing; not every facility uses a model that has other nurses’ help decide the next shifts nursing assignment. Some places will have a separate person makes the assignments and determine which nurse will get which patients during each shift, this can lead to the issue of the person making the assignments not knowing specifics and the level of care needed for each individual patient. In some cases a nurse may only have a few patients and another nurse has double as many. The level of care each individual patient needs is a huge aspect to take into consideration, making pervious nurses
This intake packet is lengthy. I do believe it would be beneficial to the client if there were not so many questions. People coming in for services already have concerns or issues they are trying to work through. Many times, clients feel overwhelmed or anxious about beginning mental health services. This intake form, with all its questions and nine pages, may contribute to increased anxiety or be overwhelming for people. The questions are
Step 1- Register Patients/ Check In - You can do this either when patient calls to set initial appointment and ask for their insurance information via phone to confirm prior to appointment. You can also at this time ask them to fill out paperwork prior if it is available via email or company web page. When patient comes in ask for insurance card for your records, along with any documentation that is needed. Example Referral or Prior Health Records.
Moreover, the office visit length will be shortened due to the high demand of customers making it harder to provide good quality of care to patients as well . On the other hand, from the physician point of view it is predictable that doctors will change practice patterns from private offices to hospital services because the facilities pay salaries with less expectations in the number of patients seen per day. Furthermore, due to the elevated number of patients, time left for clinical documentation and record keeping will be nulle.
Scheduling Procedures. Categorize different scheduling procedures for various types of service operations, such as restaurants, hospitals, and airlines. Your initial post should include explanations and examples and be 200-250 words.
The health care industry is an environment that is competitive and expensive. To be a patient receiving care the urgency is high and at a very critical point to trust a team of strangers with your care possibly even your life. On the other side of that coin, treating and interacting with patients is a part of the health care industry because providing care does not end with the physician. In the middle of these two different side of health care is where management steps in and takes over the middle ground.
The answer to the question about point-of-service (POS) payment asked in the assignment is as follows. The question: What is the amount a patient has to pay to see an out of network physician when the bill is 2000.00 and out of that amount, 1200.00 is approved charges with the POS out of network insurance paying 80% of approved charges?
When the project is a proven success, the hospital should consider implementing hourly rounds instead of odd-hour rounds. Employee satisfaction contributes to satisfied customers. Hourly rounding promotes high-quality patient care to improve patient outcomes; this is vital in healthcare delivery today (Studer, 2007).
Self-scheduling is an aspect of nursing that has been considered for quite some time. Prior to discussing the pros and cons of this particular practice, it is necessary to briefly elucidate some of the reasons why organizations and nurses have experimented with this technique in the past. The goal of self-scheduling, of course, is largely synonymous with the goal of assigned scheduling to fully staff a particular health care organization so that it can deliver the best care possible to its patients. The primary difference between these two methods, however, is that the former affords nurses greater authority and autonomy (Pecci, 2012) in this process, by allowing them to determine the times that are most convenient for individuals to fulfill this goal. As such, there are a number of benefits and detrimental aspects of letting nurses determine their own schedules. Some tangible pros include allowing nurses to better manage their personal and private lives, reducing the work load and the amount of stress nurse managers deal with, and overall improving the scheduling and staffing process; common cons include staff unavailability, preferentialism, and pressure to adhere to the wishes of a bevy of others (Bailyn et al, 2007, p. 73).
Within the case, The Carbondale Clinic, it is apparent that a scheduling problem exists which has then resulted in patients being unsatisfied with the amount of time they must wait to be seen for his or her scheduled appointment with the physician. It is also evident that physicians prefer to have a full schedule without taking into consideration the possibility of emergencies that may arise throughout the day that will contribute to patients having to wait even longer. It is pertinent that the manager sits down with the staff to determine what is the most logical solution to help resolve the scheduling problem, taking into consideration what the physicians want along with ensuring patient satisfaction.
This would allow ample time for triaging the cases, completing documents and discussing possible solutions with the customer. By making an appointment and discussing with the customer beforehand how much time will be allotted them should keep everyone on track and decrease wait times.
Firstly, understanding what our patients value in lean design, every step within every process within the practice from the check-in process to the rooming process to the refill process should add value for our customers. Some steps may not be directly valuable to patients but may be essential to operating our business. The point is simply to make the patient’s experience as value-added as possible. When we create a value-added experience for the patient, something unexpected occurs you end up more satisfied yourself, with a more efficient, effective practice. To understand what is truly important to your patients, consider several ways of collecting their
1. Scheduling involves the timing of operations to achieve the efficient movement of units through a system. The overall objective of scheduling is faster movement of goods and services through a facility, better customer service and dependable delivery.