December 2015 Vol. 17 Issue 12
ECHO
THE EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER OF HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY
Epic: A Catalyst for Patient Access Transformation he Epic implementation presents the
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HSS Recognized Once Again for High Quality Care
opportunity to change the way we interact
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with our patients, beginning with how they
access our services. According to Melissa Taylor, senior director of Patient Registration, “having the
number of organizations that rate hospitals have recognized Hospital for Special Surgery for high quality care. The latest rankings have
come out in the last few months. Healthgrades, a
technology is allowing us to make these changes to
leading online resource for consumers, has awarded
process and flow to provide better access for our
HSS its highest five-star ratings in the categories of
patients and a more customized experience.”
total hip replacement, back and neck surgery, and One significant change to our current process
spinal fusion surgery for 2016. Healthgrades also ranked
is dedicated to the pre-service registration and
HSS among the nation’s top five percent of hospitals
financial clearance of our patients. As we transition
for spine surgery, and in the top 10 percent for overall
to Epic, a team of Patient Access Specialists will focus on completing these administrative tasks prior to the date of service, allowing our patient-facing Patient Access Specialists to focus on delivering a first-class patient experience. We will also introduce the Financial Navigator, an HSS representative who will counsel patients on financial assistance and payment options for their procedures. In addition, many Patient Access Specialists will also be trained in scheduling a broad range of hospital and physician services. The HSS Access Center will serve as a centralized hub to manage both inbound and outbound communications with our patients, providers, and payors. Sophisticated software will allow calls to be routed to skilled Patient Access Specialists located across the HSS campus in a timely manner. The software also allows teams of Patient Access Specialists to work off of the same Epic workqueue to accomplish tasks, such as completing registrations, scheduling pending orders,
orthopedic services and for joint replacement for 2016. The Patient Access Center team includes (front row, l-r) Robert Couch, Tanya Rosario; (second row, l-r) Luis Cruz, DeCiembre White, MPH; Taneeka Brown; Joehl Ocana; (third row, l-r) Deven Loknauth, Yvonne Wilson-Ogunniyi.
HSS has been recognized as a “top quality” hospital, ranked number one in the nation for medical excellence in both orthopedic surgery and joint replacement by
or completing authorizations. Patients and providers
CareChex®, a division of Comparion, a company that
will have a common access point, which caters
evaluates and rates hospitals in the United States.
to individual preferences, while leveraging the
CareChex assesses multiple components of medical
economies of scale introduced through centralization.
quality, including process of care, outcomes of care
The graphic below depicts a sample workflow for
and patient experience.
schedulable orders that will be handled by the
In November, Becker’s Hospital Review placed HSS
Access Center.
on its list of “100 Hospitals with Great Orthopedic
The Epic project and our transformative initiatives
Programs.” The publisher also named HSS on the
have truly brought us together as a health care
list of “100 Hospital and Health Systems with Great
system in a way that no other project has – our
Neurosurgery and Spine Programs.” Earlier in the
success is shared and opportunities for synergy
year, Becker’s included HSS in its listing of “100
abound. For example, leaders of all HSS areas with
Great Hospitals in America.”
significant patient phone interaction (Access Center,
“We are honored to consistently receive this recognition
Department of Medicine, PRS, Radiology, Managed
for the high quality care we provide,” said Lou Shapiro,
Care, etc.) have formed a Success Partners team.
president and CEO. “The entire HSS family constantly
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meets and exceeds the high standards that we set for ourselves, and I am proud of the commitment to excellence and teamwork we display every day.” “Providing outstanding care is something all of us work to achieve on a daily basis, and it is extremely gratifying when those outside of our organization take note,” said Todd J. Albert, M.D., surgeon-in-chief and medical director. “Our challenge in the year ahead will be to continue to build on this success by finding new ways to improve the lives of our patients.” For more information about HSS rankings and recognition, visit www.hss.edu/recognition.
Inside
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Raising Awareness of Clinical Trials Holiday Parties Bring Cheer Engineering Trades Fair