Patient access leaders must remain flexible in difficult economy

Sometimes, your health information managers need to code. And your patient access managers need to register patients.

In these tough economic times, your hospital staff members should be ready for different roles on any given day. No one is immune to change.

At Albany (NY) Medical Center, managers in the patient access department are prepared to handle staff shortages.

During a recent string of illnesses and consecutive days with short staffs, department leaders took off their managers' hats and got on the frontline to register patients.

"The leadership team are working managers, much like any other patient access area," says Cathy Pallozzi, CHAM, patient access director at Albany Medical, noting the staff recently experienced colds and GI, which sprang the managers to action. "So the managers are on the front end, as well as the associate director. If I am needed, I will be on the front end as well."

Read the full story by HealthLeaders Media’s Dom Nicastro.