Sep 18, 2018 | Blog, Operational Outcomes, Release of Information, Uncategorized
By: Linda Kloss
The professional discipline of ROI has changed in the past two decades. Your job has changed. And, without a doubt, expectations around your performance have changed.
Once, ROI was a narrow hospital-centric workflow that could be outsourced and forgotten. No more. Now we are called upon to manage access and
disclosure across and beyond an entire healthcare enterprise – and in support of a mission-critical imperative of improving the patient experience.
3 major drivers
What is shaping the new HIM ecosystem?
- The rise of complex and community-wide health systems like Sutter Health in San Francisco, Partners Health in Boston and UPMC in Pittsburgh.
- Health information is no longer “at rest,” safely tucked away in the archives. Because it is now digitized, health information is in motion and in use, being reused, recombined, redisclosed.
- Patient-centeredness is no long a concept limited to direct patient care, but to all points where patients interact with a health system.
4 keys to transformation
You’re heard the old inspirational saying, “The bend in the road is not the end of the road…unless you fail to make the turn.” Fortunately, the past few years have seen the emergence of new tools and workflows that help you and your colleagues make this turn.
- Request apps help healthcare organizations increase the convenience for patients, accelerate the speed of request processing, and lower the cost for both patient and organization. New technologies empower patients – as well as other authorized requestors – to submit requests from their computer or smart phone.
- Automation allows healthcare organizations to centralize and standard disclosure management processes. The old playbook – where processes across ambulatory, acute care, home care and the ED were fragmented – increased cost and compliance risk.
- Auditing and analytics are now valued as critical to effective and efficient access and disclosure management processes. New tools streamline workflows, quality assurance and reporting so leaders can monitor compliance and performance issues.
- Accountability is a critical component. Work flow technology should help people do the right thing at the right time. And it should produce a record of the work performed for accountability and as a teaching tool to improve the productivity and skill of access and disclosure staff.
Of course, any transformative effort requires more than can be contained in a simple 400-word blog. If you are going to AHIMA next week, look me up for a deeper conversation. I will be at the Verisma booth #403 and will deliver a presentation on this topic at 2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25.
Oct 24, 2017 | Blog, Information Sharing, Uncategorized
Exploring Driver #5 of the “5 Things You Must Know Now About Release of Health Information”
By: Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA
People are becoming better informed about their rights and the value of information to inform health and healthcare decisions. Increase in personal health spending is one reason consumers are becoming better informed. So is the growing understanding that it’s wise to be knowledgeable and involved in one’s health and healthcare decisions. Release of Information (ROI) teams see this trend firsthand with the growing number of requests for records from patients.
ROI is on the front line in helping patients become smart health information consumers. Patient requests will continue to increase and they will expect a reasonable customer service experience in requesting and obtaining records. Those responsible for ROI should be monitoring changing requirements, exploring best practices and planning for innovation in a future-focused way.
Earlier blogs examined the value of standardizing ROI across the health care enterprise to improve quality and compliance. Enterprise ROI also improves customer satisfaction and contributes to an organization’s patient engagement objectives. Regardless of whether the patient initiates a request at the physician’s office or hospital, the request process should be the same and the patient should be able to secure the requested information without going from site to site. Verisma clients are realizing quantifiable improvement in customer satisfaction, improved compliance, accuracy, and cost management by deploying ROI technology and consistent policy and process across the enterprise. If full standardization is not possible for your organization, use ROI technology to unify the process as fully as possible and plan to further centralize over time.
The next wave of innovation will be self-service functionality enabling patients and other authorized requestors to request medical records via web at their convenience. There will be no need to stand in line or to fill out a paper form. Done well, self-service request apps use state of the art security, identity verification, and preserve a record of transactions. As with enterprise ROI, Verisma clients are now introducing self-service into ROI thereby helping patients gain access to health information while also stepping up security and accountability.
Patients may want ease of access to their information, but they don’t want to trade off their privacy rights to gain it. Recent research found that 49% of US online adults are concerned about the privacy of their healthcare information when using on line tools.[1] On line request apps must meet HIPAA requirements and maintain a high bar for identity management and the accommodation of patients’ disclosure preferences. If implemented properly, request apps can help educate patients in the exercise of their rights process. ROI teams can do a great deal to help educate patients about their rights, and a valuable source of educational materials is with HHS.[2] Proactive education about privacy rights and your organization’s practices benefits all.
HIM managers should evaluate the request process from the patients’ perspective.
- What data are available on volume of requests at various provider settings across the network?
- How similar or dissimilar is the patient experience at various settings?
- How does staff in various settings respond to a set of “test” questions that patients might pose that require working knowledge of HIPAA privacy regulations?
- How can customer facing processes be improved through greater standardization, through technology, education and request apps?
This is our final post in the “5 Things You Must Know Now About Release of Health Information” series. Should you have any comments or questions please e-mail us at solutions@verisma.com.
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[1] Khatibloo, F., Forester Research in testimony before the NCVHS, September 13, 2017, (https://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Sep-13-@115pm-Khatibloo-Beyond-HIPAA-Statement.pdf)
[2] Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html)
Jul 21, 2015 | Blog, Health Information Solutions, Operational Outcomes
The mantra of healthcare is “focus on the patient” and those of us in healthcare and healthcare IT live in a patient-centric world. However, for hospitals and healthcare organizations, the patient isn’t our only customer. In fact, there are many others who fall into that category and require a high level of customer service. This is extremely evident in the departments that interact with those authorized to request and receive copies of patient records.
We have to remember it’s NOT ONLY about the patient…there’s more to consider.
In the Release of Information (ROI) world, our customers are other healthcare providers, attorneys, payers, schools, and law enforcement, just to name a few. It’s the Health Information Management (HIM) department’s responsibility to make sure that ROI requests are met and completed with a high level of satisfaction. Given the variable types of documentation needed, requirements about the level of patient data that can be legally shared, and the sheer number of requests, it’s a challenging and time-consuming process.
So how do we ensure efficient and error-free customer service?
The key is technology-driven ROI workflows. In an age of technology-driven healthcare, so many healthcare providers still rely on manual ROI workflows where requests are touched multiple times during processing and request tracking is done in a log book or on a spreadsheet. This is a recipe for poor customer service based on an inability to quickly and accurately provide information about request status, generate invoices and distribute the requested patient information.
Patients want access to their doctors and hospital staff because the human touch is a cornerstone of patient care. But requestors simply need the information they seek. Think of it like this: Rarely do we call airlines unless there is an issue, we simply book tickets and check flight status online. The same goes for requestors. Technology provides an efficient way to request and retrieve information. And, efficiency goes a long way towards maintaining customer satisfaction.
ROI automation provides benefits to both the healthcare organization and the requestors:
- Requestors can retrieve information they need independently.
- Requestor satisfaction rises because self-sufficiency is built into the ROI process, where it has never been before.
- HIM departments can respond quickly and automatically to requestors.
- Hospitals can quickly distribute information, track data and reduce errors.
- Healthcare organizations can ensure they are complying with strict federal, state and organization regulations.
ROI is one of a handful of touch points your customers have with your healthcare organizations. Let’s strive to make this experience the best it can be. With the right guide in place, the entire universe is within easy reach!
May 16, 2015 | Blog, Release of Information
One of the most beloved Super Bowl ads of all time was developed by a consulting company, showcasing one of the biggest challenges organizations often have – herding cats. Looks confusing, frustrating and well, basically impossible, doesn’t it? Implementing a Release of Information (ROI) solution across the healthcare enterprise can feel that way, too. An ROI solution that captures and streamlines the requirements of patients, attorneys, care providers, payers, government agencies, and PFS into one comprehensive solution is a pretty tall order. Add to that mix the onerous requirements of HIPAA and HITECH, operational pressures of cost containment and revenue generation, and the lack of compliance certifications for the industry. What do you get? Utter mayhem.
Disparate requestor requirements, privacy/security compliance issues, and operational pressures result in big pain points for decision makers. We hear time and again from HIM professionals that their two primary issues are slow turnaround times and an error prone process. Other secondary issues include a lack of transparency and visibility, and limited access to critical financial and production level data.
All of these primary and secondary issues can impede HIM departments from decreasing error rates and preventing processing issues.
What’s the solution?
Maybe there isn’t one to herding cats, but there is one for the healthcare industry, and that is ROI Automation. Hospitals and health care providers need a holistic, automated approach that aligns people and processes across the enterprise.
What does this mean exactly? Healthcare organizations need an ROI Automation System that offers:
- Innovative technology: Cloud based, advanced best-in-class workflow automation
- Rules and regulations peace of mind: Integrated HIPAA and business process rules
- Radical transparency: A complete, auditable history of each and every release
- Error free efficiency: A credentialed team to meticulously manage sensitive patient, insurance and hospital data
- Plays nicely with others: Automated bi-direction integration to EMR systems
- Solve problems before they become problems: Data driven dashboards that allow for proactive decision making
An effective ROI workflow solution will improve the requestor experience while driving down operational frustration, risk, and costs. This means that every element will be automated, from request to delivery, billing to compliance. When you have a true ROI Automation Solution, you have the tools in place for a successful enterprise wide implementation. Not only will you gain positive return on investment, you’ll also reap the benefits of consistent processes, cross departmental visibility and accountability, and a speedy, efficient workflow.
A lot less confusing and frustrating than herding cats, too.
