AAHAM Serves as a Critical Access Hospital Resource

Variety of Sources Benefits Smaller Organizations

In the current economic downturn, healthcare organizations are feeling a double pinch dealing with new government regulations along with working within tighter budgets.

In particular, Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) along with their mission to care for the underprivileged within their community, are limited in economic resources due to their capacity to generate capital, whether from operations or from capital markets..

Since most CAHs are not associated with a larger healthcare facility, a primary challenge is providing current education information for staff members. Oftentimes, personnel hired to work at a CAH come from within the community or surrounding area. The pool of available employees are often lacking the skills required for available positions, according to Liz Baptist, Business Office Director, Perry Memorial Hospital in Princeton, IL.

"The challenge is that no one has much healthcare experience. You know that great person you hired from the local merchant, but, they don't know healthcare. For example, you need a Medicare Biller.  You probably won't find anyone in the community with Medicare Billing experience.  Organizations like AAHAM have networking resources that can give you tips and pointers and tell you things that you never knew about," said Baptist.

Technical Certifications

National AAHAM offers affordable education and certifications programs which could help to develop staff and career paths in smaller communities. AAHAM certifications include CPAT (Certified Patient Account Technician), CCAT (Certified Clinic Account Technician) and CCT (Certified Compliance Technician). The cost for the Technical Certification Exam Study Manual has been rolled back for members and non-members to $99 and the exam fee has been reduced to $100 for both members and non-members. Additional discounts are available for organizations that register ten or more people for the technical exams.

Other certifications that are available include CPAM (Certified Patient Account Manager), CCAM (Certified Clinic Account Manager).  Additional information is available on the website, www.aaham.org.

The intrinsic value of technical certifications is that employees can get training they can't get elsewhere, according to Baptist.

"Another value about certification in a CAH hospital is the lack of a structured career ladder. If an employee can get certified, they can earn an increase in wage.  It's typical that there is a long time before the higher ranks turn over in smaller communities.  People stay in those positions. So, certification may be the only way to step-up to a higher pay grade, not to mention the personal pride, confidence and feeling of accomplishment that can go along with achieving certification," said Baptist.

Written by Christopher Thunder and Ryan Brebner, R&B Solutions, Waukegan, IL

As comprehensive health care legislation is phased into effect, the healthcare industry continues to be under scrutiny for the cost of services, particularly those incurred by the uninsured and underinsured. This criticism was a large driver in the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA; Public Law 111-148), which creates insurance exchanges and expands Medicaid to play a major role in covering more uninsured people. With enrollment in these programs expected to cover at least 19 million currently uninsured patients, hospitals are continually looking for new ways to assist patients in qualifying for government programs. In recent years, an ever-increasing number of hospitals began using credit scoring to determine if a patient has a propensity to pay their bill, be eligible for government programs, or charity care. However, with Medicaid expanding and health insurance exchanges forming, does it make sense to continue using credit scores when they are not used in any government program’s application process?