The Patient Access Department is most often responsible for provid-ing patients and visitors with their all-important first impressions of our hospital.

Patient Access staff provide quality care in patient registration and all of its support processes to patients, providers, and payors throughout a patient’s health care experience.

Not only do they represent the first impression, becoming the face for the entire facility, but we also serve as the key component in putting ev-ery health care visit in motion.

“We work very hard on guest rela-tions,” says access manager JoAnn Urso. “Patients and families com-ing into our hospital are often in a stressful situation. Our job is to ease their concerns in a caring and efficient manner.”

In an average day, the Access De-partment handles a variety of re-quests from many persons includ-ing physicians, nurses and patients.

Physicians call to schedule patients

for admission, and nurses inform Access of any patient transfers.

The Access Department staff must also be familiar with the proce-dures and guidelines of various in-surance companies.

Last year Hartford Hospital reg-istered and admitted more than 400,000 patients.

During the access process, patients often are feeling apprehensive and need support.

“When people aren’t feeling well, we need to be fast, accurate and above all, friendly,” said Elizabeth Scriva-no, access staff member from Emer-gency Department Registration. “If we don’t do our job right, the prob-lems reverberate throughout the hospital. Our main priority is to bal-ance efficiency with large doses of caring and concern.”

Another staff member, Julio Laboy from Admitting, reports that his job is very rewarding.

“I feel good at the end of the day when I know I was able to make a

difference in a person’s outlook by cheering them up and being there to answer questions.”

We acknowledge our team mem-bers in the Access Department for initiating the caring spirit that ex-ists among all our hospital staff.

Congratulations to all our Patient Access staff:

• Admitting Department Registration

• Emergency Department Registration

• Financial Assistance Coordination Team

• Financial Clearance Center of Central Scheduling

• In-House Clearance Unit

• Institute of Living Registration

• Outpatient Department Registration

• Schedulers of Central Scheduling

RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital April 2, 2012 Vol. 68 No. 11

Patient Access: Gateway to Excellence in Health Care

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Pro-gram has awarded a $30,000 one-year grant to Hartford Hospital to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer.

It is the tenth year that the program has received funding from the Avon Foun-dation for Women to support its work on this important health issue, and in recogni-tion of the program’s excellence.

Damaris L. Perez, from The Connecti-cut Breast and Cer-vical Cancer Early Detection Program (CBCCEDP) at Hart-ford Hospital will ed-ucate Greater Hart-ford area women and refer them to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their own communities.

The vital program will also refer women for cervical examinations, pap smears

and colonoscopies, as well as glucose and cholesterol screenings (through the WISEWOMAN program).

Since 1995, the CBCCEDP at Hartford Hospital has reached more than 11,000

women with informa-tion about the impor-tance of early detec-tion of breast cancer and has referred over 5,400 women for mam-mograms and clinical breast exams.

“Our outreach program helps to provide life-saving prevention and early detection educa-tion to the medically underserved communi-ties we serve, as well as to provide free screen-ings for breast, cervical, prostate, and colorectal cancer,” said Andrew L. Salner, MD, director of

the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center.

“We are most grateful to the Avon Foun-dation for Women for their continued support,” he said.

Calling All Young Emerging LeadersThere will be a meeting of the United Way Emerging Leaders Society on Thurs-day, April 5, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the City Steam Brewery Cafe, 942 Main St. in Hartford.

The United Way Emerging Leaders So-ciety is designed for young profession-als ages 21-40 who are defining what it means to be a leader in Greater Hartford.

Our mission is to inspire leadership in ad-vocacy, volunteerism and philanthropy among young professionals by offering volunteer, educational and networking opportunities in our community.

Attendees will have the opportunity to network with community leaders and other young professionals, and hear brief remarks from Susan Dunn, president and

CEO of United Way of Central and North-eastern Connecticut; Jack Soos, chair of the United Way Emerging Leaders Soci-ety; and John Prescod, executive director of ConnectiKids.

Britta Johnson, Hartford Hospital’s An-nual Campaign assistant from Fund De-velopment, is the vice chair of this new group.

Learn how you can make a difference in your community, and enjoy free appetiz-ers, drink specials, and the LIVE UNITED lager. The first 50 people in the door will receive a special giveaway.

The event is free. In support of our edu-cation initiative, a donation of a new chil-dren’s book is suggested.

Avon Breast Health Outreach Program Receives $30,000 Grant for Screening

Please Take The Staff Survey Before Friday

2

Please complete the Employee En-gagement Survey before this Fri-day, April 6.

Employees with access to Group-Wise received an e-mail invitation with a password (for employees without GroupWise access, a post-card was mailed to homes.)

A link to the survey can also be found on the Intranet home page.

Survey respondents will receive a complementary beverage and will be entered into a drawing for Kin-dle e-readers.

Compliance Questions or

Concerns? If you need to obtain information about compliance issues or raise concerns regarding internal and regulatory practices or policies,

please contact your supervisor or call the ComplianceLine, a

confidential and toll-free service, at

1-855-HHC-OCAPor online at

HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com

3

EPSI Budget Training Offered April 3-10

Increased Referral Bonus for APRNs and PAsThrough September 30, any Hartford Hospital staff member who refers a PA or APRN with at least three years of experi-ence that is hired into full time position will receive an increased referral bonus of $10,000.

If the referred candidate is hired, the bonus will be paid out by the following schedule: $3,000 at the candidate’s start date; $4,000 at the candidate’s 6 month anniversary; and $3,000 at the candi-date’s one year anniversary, contingent upon satisfactory performance through-out this time period.

To get credit for the referral, your name must be on the candidate’s electronic ap-plication. All other details of the Referral Bonus Program remain in effect, and re-ferral bonuses for other positions remain unchanged. For more information, con-tact Human Resources at 860-545-2146.

Yes, it is that time of year again. Train-

ing for the Sunrise EPSI Budget Manager

for Hartford Hospital users will be held

at CB5 Training Room on:

• Tuesday, April 3 (Two Sessions)

1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

• Thursday, April 5 (Three

Sessions) 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 10 (Two Sessions)

8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Training will be comprised of a gen-

eral refresher as well as a review of vari-

ous reporting tools.

We encourage all persons responsible

for developing a budget in EPSI to at-

tend. This is especially important for

patient service revenue-generating de-

partments in order to review the new

methodology for budgeting revenue

and statistics.

Classes will be approximate-

ly 1.5 hours long and are limit-

ed to 20 persons per session on a

first-come basis.

Please register by contacting Christine

Edwards at 6-6232 or at cedwards02@

harthosp.org. Training is limited to au-

thorized users only.

IOL Conducts Trial for Treatment of Depression

Staff at the Burlingame Center for Psychi-atric Research at the IOL is conducting a new trial for the treatment of depression using a new, noninvasive medical device.

Known as low emission NeoSync EEG synchronized transcranial magnet-ic stimulation (sTMS), the device is be-ing tested in patients between 22 and 65 years old with a diagnosis of Major De-pressive Disorder and failure to respond to exactly one medication.

Under the direction of Dr. John Goethe, director of clinical research, and Jennifer Higgins, Ph.D., trial coordinator, the tri-al consists of five 30-minute treatments per week for six weeks. There is no re-covery period, so the patient is free to leave at the conclusion of each treatment and able to drive.

For further details about the trial, please visit www.neosync.com. To speak with the trial coordinator, please call 860-545-7502, or e-mail at jhiggins@harthosp.org.

Bake Sale and Raffle Monday and TuesdayThere will be a bake sale and raffle from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Monday (4/2) and Tuesday (4/3) to benefit Child & Adolescent Inpa-tient Services at the IOL. Raffle prizes in-clude tickets to a Red Sox/Yankees game. On Monday, it will be in the Donnelly Build-ing Lobby, and Tues-day it will be in the ERC Lobby.

Holy Week Services There will be Holy Week Services in the Multifaith Chapel this week.

• Monday,April2,12noon-ProtestantService

• Tuesday,April3,12noon-MultifaithService

• Wednesday,April4:12noon-GuidedImagery3:45p.m.-RomanCatholicMass

• Thursday,April5(MaundyThursday):12noon-MultifaithService

• Friday,April6(GoodFriday):12noon-MultifaithService3:45p.m.-StationsoftheCross

• Sunday,April8(Easter):12noon-ChristianService3:45p.m.-RomanCatholicMass

Jewish ServicesJewish services will be held on Thursday, April 5 (Passover service) and Thursday, April 19 (Yom Hashoah) in the Multifaith Chapel from 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Ruth Camosci Retirement Tea This Friday at WHSCRuth Camosci, CST at the West Hartford Surgery Center, is retiring from Hart-ford Hospital. There will be a retirement tea for her on Friday, April 6 at 12:30 p.m. at the West Hartford Surgery Center.

“Be The Match” Registry Drive This ThursdayEvery day, patients with leukemia hope for marrow donors who can make their transplants possible. We will have a do-nor drive on Thursday, April 5, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Cancer Center’s Tay-lor Conference Room. Come give a swab of your cheek cells so tissue type can be determined. For more info, contact Mary Kate Eanniello at 860-545-5454.

Apply for Nurse Leader-ship Award by FridayNominations are due this Friday, April 6 for the Doris M. Armstrong Nurse Leader-ship Award. The award, presented during Nurses Week, recognizes a Hartford Hos-pital RN for outstanding contributions in a leadership role, and honors Doris Arm-strong, VP of nursing at Hartford Hospi-tal from 1976-1990. For more information please contact Ginger Goddu at 860-545-5261 or ggoddu@harthosp.org.

Webb School FundraisersRadiography and Radiation Therapy are sponsoring a trip to the Bronx Zoo for the students of the IOL’s Grace Webb School. Our final fundraising event is next Tues-day, April 10 in the Front Lobby from 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. For more information, contact Colleen Miller at 860-545-3579.

Sign Up By Friday for ‘Take Your Children to Work Day’

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day will be on April 26. We will again be sponsoring a day of activities for chil-dren of staff members. Applications must be submitted by Friday, April 6. Children from 4th–12th grade are eligible to partic-ipate. Please contact Amanda Blaszyk at ablaszyk@harthosp.org or 860-545-4732.

Ladies Golf LeagueThe Goodwin Park’s Ladies 9 Hole League is accepting new players. Play is Thurs-day mornings from April 26 through Sept. 27, and starts at 8:30 a.m. Greens fees are paid on a per-round basis. All skill levels are welcome. For more de-tails, call 860-563-7649.

Do You Love Your Clogs?A shoe vendor, I Love My Clogs, will be in Dining Room B on Friday, April 13 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. A huge selection of Dans-ko/Alegria Comfort Clogs will be offered. Cash, checks and credit cards accepted. Sponsored by The Auxiliary Store.

Kidney Walk Coming 4/29

The 2012 Kidney Walk will be held Sun-day, April 29 at Wickham Park in Man-chester. Proceeds will support the Na-tional Kidney Foundation. More info can be found at http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/Connecticut?pg=entry&fr_id=4314. =

Happening at Hartford Hospital

Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at aemanuelli@harthosp.org or 860-545-2199