December 13, 2002

Late night talk-show host David Letterman made top 10 lists famous with his comedic commentary on everything from "top 10 favorite things to do in an airplane" to "top 10 least popular Christmas carols." To borrow from the comedian's well-known lists, the Patient Administrative Cycle Enhancements (PACE) project staff has come up with a list to help MGHers better understand the project.

10)  PACE stands for Patient Administrative Cycle Enhancements.

9)  The PACE project is a joint effort between the MGH and the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) to improve outpatient administrative processes.

8)  PACE will create a new off-campus Contact Center.

7)  The Contact Center staff will update outpatient registrations prior to patient visits.

6)  Patients who have not been registered six months prior to an outpatient appointment will be flagged in the IDX system as having an expired registration.

5)  A primary goal of the PACE project is to verify and update patients' demographic and insurance information every six months and/or when a patient reports a change. This process will prevent patients from being asked for the same information every time they have an appointment.

4)  Trained referral specialists in the Contact Center will handle the administrative process for all referrals.

3)  The Patcom system will be used for outpatient registration.

2)  The Patcom system will be used for outpatient hospital billing. MGPO practices will continue to bill through IDX.

1)  PACE will benefit all clinicians, staff and patients by simplifying the registration and referral process, which will save time for busy practice staff and reduce the number of insurance denials.