Transcript Patient Check-In, cont.

Chapter 37
Patient Reception
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Pretest
True or False
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The first thing the medical assistant does when opening
the office is to unlock the file cabinets, medical record
files, and medicine cabinets.
After opening the office, the medical assistant should be
sure that the telephones are switched to the day
message or call the answering service.
An electronic task system consists of a folder for each
month and a folder for each day.
Medical records are usually pulled the evening before
the appointment.
A radio, CD player, television, or DVD player is usually
turned on in the morning before patients arrive.
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Pretest, cont.
True or False
6. The autoclave is often run just before closing
the medical office so that instruments can dry
overnight.
7. Only one person should be permitted to stand
at the reception desk at a time.
8. A new patient must sign a form acknowledging
receipt of HIPAA privacy practices.
9. Only the top side of the insurance card must
be photocopied.
10. If a patient has managed care insurance, a
referral form may be required to see a
physician other than the primary care provider.
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Preparing for Patients
Opening and Closing the Medical Office
1. Duties of first person in the office:
a. Disarm the alarm system
b. Turn on the lights
c. Unlock the door through which patients
enter
d. Unlock file cabinets, medical records files,
and medicine cabinets
e. Turn on all of the office equipment that will
be used
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Checking for Messages and/or Faxes
1. Duties to prepare telephone system for the
day’s activities:
a. Switch from the night/weekend message to the
day message on the voice mail system
b. If office uses an answering service, need to
notify service that office is open
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
2. Checking for faxes that have arrived
overnight
a. Route to the appropriate person
b. Make sure fax machine has adequate amount
of paper
3. Retrieve messages from a separate
prescription request mailbox
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Preparing for the Day’s Activities
1. Review the day’s tasks
2. Note any deviations from normal routine
3. Prepare manual day sheet if it will be used
4. Review electronic task system or tickler file
a. Tickler file is set of 12 folders (one for each
month) plus 31 additional folders (one for each
day of the month
b. Contains notes, bills to be paid, other items for
the day when it must be handled
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Making Sure Patient Charts Are Prepared
1. Patient charts are usually pulled the evening
before the appointment
2. Charts are arranged with an appointment
schedule for each physician
3. A charge slip is printed for each person and
placed with the record
a. May be printed when charts are pulled
b. May be printed when the patient arrives
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
4. Appointment schedules are updated as
patients are added
5. Appointment schedule printed for each
physician and placed throughout the office
6. Charts are usually kept at the front desk until
the patient arrives
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Checking the Office and Waiting Room
1. Waiting room should be checked for:
a. Cleanliness
b. Neatness
c. Correct temperature
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Neat and Tidy Waiting Room
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
2. Television, radio, and/or DVD player in
waiting room should be turned on
3. Any toys in children’s play area are cleaned
regularly
4. Holders for patient information brochures
are tidied and restocked
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Checking Equipment and Supplies
1. Office should be checked visually for safety
2. Fill paper trays of copier and printer
3. Check examination rooms and restock as
needed
4. Turn on equipment in laboratory as needed
and run controls
5. Unload autoclave if it was used the night
before
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
Closing the Medical Office
1. Autoclave may be run and medical
records pulled at the end of the day
a. Allows instruments to dry overnight
b. Gives more time in the morning
2. Make backup copy of main computer
hard drive as needed
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Preparing for Patients, cont.
3. Other duties are reverse of opening the office:
a. Turn off all equipment except fax machine and
telephones
b. Change telephone system to night message and/or
call answering service
c. Lock the door through which patients enter
d. Lock file cabinets, medical record files, and
medication cabinets
e. Make sure kitchen equipment is turned off
f. Turn off lights
4. Alarm system is set as the last person leaves
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Patient Check-In
1. Important to acknowledge each person who
enters the office as soon as possible
a. Prevents person from feeling awkward
b. Sign-in sheet should have adhesive peel-off
strips to preserve confidentiality
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Maintaining Confidentiality
1. Sliding glass window prevents people in
the waiting room from hearing telephone
conversations, etc., in the reception area
2. If open desk, medical assistant (MA)
avoids conversation with patient when
another patient is at the desk
3. Only one patient at the reception desk at
a time
4. If information provided is sensitive,
patient is taken to private area
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Patient Check-In, cont.
New Patients
1. Forms completed and/or signed by a
new patient
a.
b.
c.
Personal and insurance information (if
not already recorded)
Consent for treatment/release of
information form
Form authorizing assignment of
benefits
•
Payment will go directly to the office
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Sample New Patient Information Form
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Acknowledgement of Receipt of HIPAA
Privacy Practices
1. New patient is given a copy of the notice of
office privacy practices
2. New patient signs a form acknowledging
receipt of notice of privacy practices
3. If office policy, new patient signs a general
form consenting to release of information
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Sample Acknowledgement of Receipt of
HIPAA Privacy Practice
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Optional Consent for Disclosure of Protected
Health Information
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Patient History Form
1. New patient fills out a history form before
seeing the physician
2. May be mailed to the patient or given before
the first visit
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Verifying Insurance and Obtaining
Authorizations
1. Photocopy both sides of the insurance card
2. Some insurance companies require
authorizations every time the patient sees the
primary care physician
a.
Medicaid patients usually have to be verified
and/or receive prior authorization for each visit
•
•
•
Medicaid is an insurance program established by the
federal government
Medicaid pays for low-income patients’ medical needs
Medicaid patients can be verified by card reader,
telephone, or fax
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Card Reader to Verify Insurance
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Patient Check-In, cont.
b. Other types of insurance may necessitate
calling the patient’s insurance company to
obtain authorization for treatment
c. Call if there is a question about whether the
insurance will cover the visit before patient is
seen
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Verifying a Managed Care Referral
1. For physician other than primary care
provider, a paper or electronic referral form
may be required
2. Referral form will state how many visits are
allowed
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Patient Check-In, cont.
3. Referral form will state problem for which the
patient is being referred
4. If a referral, must accept what insurance
pays
5. If not covered by insurance or no referral
form, patient must be informed of
responsibility for bill
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Established Patients
1.
2.
Verify that billing information is correct
each time patient visits the office
Update information when there are any
changes
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Accepting Copayments
1. Copayment is a fixed amount of money
that the patient is required to pay each
time he or she receives medical
treatment
2. Amount is usually printed on the
patient’s insurance card
3. Copayment may be collected before
the visit because it is a fixed fee
4. Patient is given a receipt for copayment
and amount is recorded on patient’s
charge slip
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Patient Check-In, cont.
Indicating That the Patient Is in the Waiting
Room
1. After patient has been checked in, medical
record is placed in designated space
2. Patient placed in examination room when
one is free
3. Forms are inserted in the medical record or
scanned into an electronic medical record
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Patient Check-In, cont.
4.
5.
6.
Charge slip is usually attached to front
of medical record or routing slip
Physician will complete the charge slip
Patient information is checked and/or
added in the computer
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office
Information for New or Prospective Patients
1. Brief description of the physicians and
information about them
2. How long each physician has been in
practice
3. Each physician’s credentials
4. Which physicians are accepting new
patients
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
5.
6.
7.
Specialties of each physician in the
office
Information about languages spoken
Location of the main office and satellite
offices
a.
b.
c.
Directions to office(s)
Information about parking
Information about access to public
transportation, if applicable
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Types of insurance that the practice
accepts
Payment policy
How far in advance to make appointments
and policy on canceling appointments
“Call-in” times or when the physician will
return calls
What hospitals and/or nursing homes the
physician is affiliated with
How medication refills are handled
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
If Physicians Aren’t Accepting New Patients
1.
Some doctors may not be accepting
patients
a. They already have as many patients as
they can handle
b. They have been out on leave
c. They are planning to retire
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
Instructions for First Appointment
1.
2.
Tell patients how much time to allow
for the visit
Remind patients to bring all
medications to an initial visit
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
Case Study for Discussion
Donna Pohl calls the office to ask about the
medical practice. An acquaintance has
recommended Dr. Sylvia Lawrence. She says
that she prefers a female physician. She asks
for information about her and her specialty. Dr.
Lawrence specializes in general internal
medicine. At the current time she is pregnant,
and her due date is 1 month away.
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
Although Dr. Lawrence is still seeing
established patients, she has instructed Keisha
not to make any appointments for her with new
patients for the next 3 months. The other
physician in the practice, Dr. William Rudner,
also specializes in general internal medicine.
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
Patient Information Booklet
1.
2.
3.
Many offices have an information
booklet or brochure
Important to keep booklet up to date
Patient information booklets are very
successful marketing tools
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
Protecting Patient Confidentiality during
Check-in
1.
HIPAA regulations are not specific about
sign-in lists
a. If possible, other patients should not know
who is in the waiting room
b. Sign-in lists with peel-off labels are
recommended to minimize time that name
is visible
c. When staff calls the patient, name is
removed from the list
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Orienting Patients to the
Medical Office, cont.
d. Silent wireless paging systems are available
e. Patients may indicate seat position on a chart at
the desk to avoid having to call their name
2. Computer screens should be turned so that
patients at the reception desk cannot see
them
3. Shredder should be located at front desk to
destroy any notes with patient names that
are not saved
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Posttest
True or False
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
As soon as the medical assistant has opened the office,
he or she usually runs the autoclave.
After opening the office, the medical assistant should
check the fax machine for faxes that may have arrived
overnight.
A tickler file is used to remind the medical assistant of
tasks to be done on a specific day.
The first major task for the medical assistant in the
morning is to pull the medical records for all patients to
be seen that day.
Holders for patient information brochures are often
located in the waiting room.
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Posttest, cont.
True or False
6.
The medical assistant turns off all equipment as the last
thing when closing the office.
7. A sliding glass window between the waiting room and
reception desk helps maintain patient confidentiality.
8. A new patient must sign a form providing consent for
treatment and release of information.
9. Insurance companies usually require authorization every
time the patient sees the primary care physician.
10. If the patient has a copayment, it is usually collected
before the patient sees the physician.
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an imprint of Elsevier Inc.
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