Access Management Journal - March 2009 - (Page 8) Maternity Access, Then and Now By Susan Franklin Access Management is now taking vast measures to improve today’s maternity admissions. 8 Access Management Journal Maternity admissions should be an exciting and wonderful time for new mothers, and admittance into Patient Access marks the first step of their parenting experience. The registration and admittance procedure, however, has not always been a smooth or pleasant process for either the patients or the staff. Recently my Patient Access team took steps to improve and quicken these procedures, creating a much more positive transaction for all involved. A Glimpse of the Old Process An expecting mother’s routine visit to her obstetrician revealed some reasons for concern, sending her to the hospital for observation. She enters the waiting area, her husband pacing nervously around her. Her bags at her feet, she waits expectantly for her name to be called. Twenty minutes pass before reception calls her to register. Arriving at the counter, she f rantically digs through her bags for insurance and ID cards while impatiently confirming her address and contact information. After another 10 minutes, she reaches the labor and delivery suite. Two years ago, the first scenario was commonplace at our facility. Obstetrical patients would arrive at all hours for observation multiple times during the last days of their pregnancy for “false alarms.” During the day, women waited in the Patient Access area to be registered. At night, nursing escorted patients in to the Emergency Department directly to the Labor and Delivery suite without allowing Access staff the time to complete a registration and obtain the required signatures. Staff was limited during non-peak hours, forcing the registrar to leave her area for long periods of time to complete the patients’ registration process. The process for admitting an OB patient was time-consuming and awkward for both the registrar and the patient, resulting in numerous staff complaints. It seemed the financial aspect of the visit was more important than the personal significance of the event. Today, these issues are no longer a problem at Halifax Regional Hospital. Management has since implemented some very simple process changes, improving the experience for both patients and staff. Updating the Patient Access procedure involved quite a bit of detective work. The first step to creating a solution was to evaluate the process, identifying any policies, rules, or regulations that would prevent us from making changes. After consulting with Labor and Delivery staff, Health Information staff, Corporate Compliance, and Patient Financial staff, we determined that this Patient Access Today An expectant mother’s routine visit to her obstetrician revealed some reasons for concern, and she is sent to the hospital for observation. The woman and her spouse go directly to the labor and delivery suite of the hospital, and within five minutes of their arrival, the expectant mother is in her bed with a fetal monitor attached. Her once-worried husband is now settled into a recliner at her side, accepting ref reshments f rom the nursing staff. There are no papers to sign, no cards to be provided.
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