PHNS




	Frequently Asked Questions What is hospital outsourcing? What is PHNS' Hospital Corporate Partnership? What makes PHNS unique compared to other outsourcers? What is health information management? What is an "electronic medical record" ? What is coding and why is it important? What is hospital outsourcing? For hospitals and healthcare systems, outsourcing means hiring an outside party to manage and service the so-called “back of the house” operations in the medical operations. Typically, significant cost-savings can be achieved for hospitals when functions such as billing, receivables and record management are handled by a third party vendor. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is common in many industries such as insurance and banking. Systems and protocols have to be established to protect the information and manage it effectively and efficiently. With the right partner, outsourcing can also mean an improvement in services. What is PHNS' Hospital Corporate Partnership? It is a unique, innovative partnership that allows hospitals to share in achieved cost savings and receive new capital dollars when PHNS purchases the hospital’s information technology assets. In an outsourcing partnership contract PHNS assumes management and purchases the hospital’s information technology or health information management department. In addition, PHNS offers stock to the new hospital partner and the possibility of board membership. This allows the hospital governance and decision-making power. This corporate partnership is exceptional and incomparable to any offering in the IT/HIM Outsourcing industries. It creates an environment of performance. Unlike others who primarily offer cost-cutting through employee termination, PHNS’ hospital partners are long-term investors in cost-savings efforts. What makes PHNS unique compared to other outsourcers? Only PHNS can service the entire continuum of non-core business functions at a hospital with proven, dedicated solutions. From the time a patient walks into the hospital until the hospital gets reimbursed for services rendered, the PHNS HealthCaring Solution addresses the entire flow of healthcare clinical and financial information. PHNS goals are aligned with the hospital’s goals. When PHNS makes money and/or saves money, the hospitals make money. PHNS creates cost savings and future benefits by aggregating, consolidating, and sharing resources among its hospital partners. What is health information management? What about patient confidentiality? Health information management (“HIM”) is the management of a hospital’s vital processes for business workflow including; records management, record storage and retrieval, coding, release of information, transcription, audits (inpatient and outpatient), chart processing assembly and analysis and patient index management. PHNS' proven HIM business processes ensure compliant management of patients' records and personal health information in all stages and departments. PHNS leverages its information technology experience to ensure a secure infrastructure is set up limiting access to specified personnel in the proper stages of the patients' records movement across the HIM department. What is an Electronic Medical Record? EMR (or EHR, Electronic Health Record) is the electronic or digital storage of a patient’s medical record. It has received additional attention in the last year as President Bush has called for the implementation of a system in which every American would have an electronic medical record. In order for the healthcare industry to improve patient safety, streamline operations, increase efficiency and reduce costs, it must computerize its current operations, records and processes. What is coding and why is it important? Coding is the process of assigning charge codes for purposes of obtaining proper reimbursement for medical services that have been rendered. It is vital that coders for a hospital are both well-trained and accurate because improper coding reduces the hospital's ability to get appropriately reimbursed for services that are delivered for patients.