Internal auditors and healthcare access managers: are our responsibilities mutually exclusive?

Internal auditing should not be looked upon as a threat. It is a management tool that can assist patient access professionals by minimizing risk of loss, improving the reliability of data, enhancing productivity, and crossing "political" lines. Access professionals should feel comfortable in asking their internal auditors for assistance, particularly when they are concerned that there are barriers preventing optimal performance in their areas of responsibility. In general, in organizations with internal audit functions, admitting and registration personnel should expect to see more of them.