On your first day as HIM Director at a small community hospital, your coding staff has come to you complaining about the number of errors originating from patient access department.Over the course of the next week, you see how these errors (duplicate medical record numbers, wrong insurances listed, etc.,) are impacting the entire revenue cycle.

Respond to each of the questions below and be sure to justify your responses. Use outside references where possible to support your rationale.

1. Explain why the patient access department errors can have a negative impact on the overall revenue cycle.

Patient Access

1. Propose a plan for reducing the number of errors to the patient access director.