Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Taking It to the Street: Emerging Practices for Hospitals to Engage Patients in the Field and on the Phone


Presented by Craig Deehring, BA, MBA, executive vice president at Integrated Health Management Services

We caught up with Craig Deehring who will be presenting at this year’s NAHAM Annual Conference on how to engage patients. There are multiple approaches that assist patients in obtaining healthcare coverage, either through government-based programs, local charity or prospective coverage available under the Affordable Care Act. There are significant challenges in engaging these patients once they have received care, including a field services (feet-on-the-street) program that can be uniquely effective in reaching individuals within a targeted community.

Why is this a must-attend session? Many folks consider internalizing “eligibility” related services but don’t fully understand all of the work that goes into reaching out to the uninsured once they have returned to the community. Once a patient discharges from the hospital, the responsibility for following up often passes to PFS, but there are opportunities that can be missed while the patient is still in-house. Field Services can often fill in those gaps and can make the difference between healthcare coverage or more uncompensated care.

Why is this topic so important to the world of Patient Access today? A valuable lesson we have already learned is the more that is done up front, the better your chances are in obtaining payment for services rendered. Field services and community outreach are early-intervention tools that make a difference. By engaging patients, their families and the community, you can dramatically increase overall patient satisfaction.


Visit the NAHAM website to check out the full line-up of Learning Labs.

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