Rethinking Customer Access Services

In the traditional healthcare facility, multiple departments and staff were involved in patient reception, admitting and registration, scheduling, cashiering, insurance verification, and billing, resulting in fragmented customer service and complicated wayfinding. Although many of these departments are located on the first floor of the facility — along with various patient and visitor amenities — only a few staff in each department needed face-to-face interaction with visitors, patients, and their families. The question is: How can a healthcare organization better utilize both its staff and space to potentially enhance operational efficiency and improve customer service?

PATIENT INTAKE PROCESS

Today, many healthcare organizations have consolidated these functions under the umbrella term patient intake — the process of collecting demographic, social, and clinical data, consent forms, insurance, payments, and other critical pieces of information from new and returning patients before their visit. Healthcare system leaders recognize that the patient intake process plays a critical role in the operational, financial, and clinical success of their hospitals and outpatient facilities. In particular, the intake process is often a patient’s first interaction with a healthcare organization, and it sets the tone for their encounter. It also offers opportunities to engage with patients at various points in their healthcare journey and provide a consistent, high-quality experience. For example, an efficient, streamlined intake process means faster throughput and shorter wait times. Consistently collecting data at the time of service means less bad debt and increased profitability. And gathering clinical data during patient intake means providers can better care for their patients and meet their quality improvement goals.

Also referred to as patient access, healthcare organizations may create a single patient intake or patient access department. According to the National Association of Healthcare Access Management, patient access professionals handle registration and support for “patients, providers, and payors into, through, and out of their health care experience.” Patient access representatives serve an essential role at healthcare facilities as the first point of contact when a patient calls or walks into the facility. In addition, they are usually responsible for answering the phone, scheduling appointments, billing, and submitting insurance claims.

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER CONCEPT

The physical manifestation of the patient intake or access department is sometimes referred to as a customer service center, patient access center, or similar designation. The term customer can refer to visitors, family members, employers, payors, physicians, staff, and vendors, in addition to the patient who is scheduled for an interview, examination, procedure, or admission. The customer service center functions as the primary patient and visitor intake, processing, and communication hub for a healthcare facility or campus. The customer service center should be located directly inside the main entrance to the healthcare complex to serve as the initial access point for scheduled patients and visitors.

The typical functional components of the customer service center include:

  • Central reception/intake and communication area — including the entrance vestibule, security/greeter station, reception/communication station for dissemination of information and wayfinding assistance, and patient/visitor lounge along with public toilet facilities, communication/work alcoves, interactive kiosks, and wheelchair holding.
  • Patient intake services — face-to-face or linked virtually — including admitting, registration, scheduling, insurance verification, billing, payment, financial counseling, discharge planning, physician referral, patient/guest relations, and security.
  • Optional services and amenities ― gift shop, coffee shop, spiritual/meditation room, and support space for volunteers.

CONCLUSION

The healthcare industry is beginning to look to the hospitality sector for solutions to ongoing customer service problems resulting from archaic organizational structures and inadequate information systems. For example, when customers visit a hotel, they encounter a central reception desk and comfortable lobby immediately upon entry. At this central reception desk, the customer can receive, or be networked with, any needed services, including registration, paying their bill, getting directions, making a special request regarding housekeeping services, arranging transportation, or scheduling a massage. Yet, the healthcare industry often requires that its customers visit multiple locations and interact with multiple staff and fragmented systems — assuming that they first determine the appropriate access point for their needed service..

This article is an update of a previous post.