Advancement in technology has lead ton automation of services in many industries including the health care sectors. Many hospitals in the United States are trying to comply with the requirement of the Electronic Health Records and the Health Information management association (Ozair et al ., 2015). This paper evaluates the laws and regulations associated with the management of health information at St. Mary’s hospital based in the United States.
Protect electronic health information through confidentiality and security measures, policies and procedure
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Medical records are very important as they provide all the information on the care provided to a patient by a particular hospital and it is used in improving the quality of care that has been previously given to a patient. Ii is also used as a legal record when the need arises. The medical records of patients are usually kept at the health department in St. Mary’s hospital and they are automated. The clinicians and the administrator are charged with the mandate of ensuring that privacy and confidentiality of the patient health information (Yarmohammadian et al .,2010). The hospital administrator and the health information managers at the hospital ensure that the patient health information in electronic form is not accessed by unauthorized persons as the computers are secured with passwords. In the United States, the law requires the consent and authorization of the patient in the release of any of his medical information. The laws however suffer from the shortcoming of not being able to fully explain to the public on the all circumstances that call for the release of the patient health information and it also does not give a hospital the ability to interpret the law according to the prevailing circumstances (Yarmohammadian et al .,2010). The laws that are currently in use did not take care of the use of information technology in the management of the patient information. At St. Mary’s hospital, the patient should give consent which is then approved by the manager before the health information is used for the purpose explained to the patient.
In the United States, the patient can be able to access his medical record after obtaining approval from the manager and also his physician. It is good for a patient to access his medical records but this can become dangerous especially if the patient is suffering from a life threatening disease. The health information of the patient is only availed to the family member only some special circumstances. In cases where the child is a minor, the parents are provided with the health information of the child and they are allowed to make authorization on behalf of the minor (Yarmohammadian et al .,2010).
Hospitals are required to provide health information if required by the law and at the same time ensuring that the health records of the patient are confidential. There has always being conflicts concerning the laws and regulation which calls for the release of the patient health information (Yarmohammadian et al .,2010). St. Mary’s hospital has written laws and regulation concerning the release of the patient information has required by the law.
Current laws and standards related to health information initiatives
Most of the hospitals in the world are adopting the Electronic Health Records (EHR) in the delivery of the medical services to their customers. Its adoption is advantageous has it saves time and also increases efficiency (Ozair et al ., 2015). In addition, EHR reduces cases of wrong drug prescription thus adverse drug reactions. However, a lot of people are questioning the ability of the automated system to main the privacy and confidentiality of the health information of the customer. Confidentiality is achieved at St. Mary’s hospital by only granting access to the information to only the authorized personnel by use of passwords and also usernames. Only the authorized staffs have the user privileges. Soft wares such as antiviruses, firewalls and those that are able to detect intrusion have been used to secure the system (Ozair et al ., 2015). Further, the hospital periodically audits the system to endure that it is secure. In the pursuit for the full adoption of the Electronic Health Records, the rights to anonymity and privacy of the patients must be included in the bill of the patients’ rights.
Processes for compliance with current laws and standards related to health information initiatives and revenue cycles
The revenue cycle management system is usually applied in most hospitals in the United States including St. Mary’s hospital. It function is to enable hospitals to link the clinical and administrative functions in the facility related to the services provided to the patients. The computers have soft wares that enable carrying out certain operations such as scheduling, registering and final payment for the services provided. The use of the revenue cycle management system is advantageous has it improves the quality of the data collected and also hastens the time from when the service is provided and when payment is made (Carlson, 2017).
St. Mary’s hospital has automated its health information systems. The information about the patient is collected the moment he calls the hospital to book an appointment with the doctor. The patient provides addition information upon being registered which is stored in the hospitals database. The care provided to the patient is also recorded and the amount charged to the patient for the services offered upon which a claim is made by the hospital awaiting payment (Carlson, 2017). The health systems of the hospital are fitted with a system that takes care of the claims that have been denied.
The system is efficient has it is able to give the reasons why the claim was rejected and the name of the doctor who treated the patient. Further, all the department involved in the revenue recycle management work together to minimize the number of claims denied. The hospital also uses the electronic health records (EHR) technology in the provision of health care services as stipulated in the HITECH act. The use of the EHR technology not only helps in delivering quality care to the patient but also in providing evidence on the various interventions that have been used on the patient. Further, EHR technology is very efficient as it helps in the transmission of the health information of the patient from one department of the hospital to another which help in reducing the number of the denied claims (Reid et al ., 2005). The claims made contain the current International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Edition, (ICD-10). The use of ICD-10 is very efficient and accurate as it reduces the number of claims that are denied (Carlson, 2017).
Comply with ethical standards of practice
The health information system contain registries with the name and health information of the patients. The code of ethics acts as a guide in helping the healthcare providers made decisions concerning the patient. The principles enshrined in the codes of ethics are very instrumental to the leader of the health information management (HIM). The current codes of ethics are managed by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) of 1991 (Flite & Harman., 2013).
The health care providers at St. Mary hospitals respect the privacy and confidentiality of the health information of the patients. Further, they respect the dignity of all the patients who seek for health care services at the hospital. The HIM professionals ensure that the billing, health care and documentation are of high quality. They also ensure that all the health information and health records are secure and confidential. The Health Information Management professionals also try to avoid conflict of interest when performing their duties. Further, they also ensure that they provide appropriate and timely feedback to the patient and other appropriate members in the organization (Flite & Harman., 2013). They also respect the mission and vision of the American Health Information Management Association.
The health Information management professionals at St. Mary’s Hospital also adhere to the 2004 code of ethics which deal with decision making process. For instance, the health care provider is required to give priority to the health and the welfare of the patient before his own interest while on duty. They are also required to behave in a professional way that will bring honor to them and the Health Information management team in entirety (Flite & Harman., 2013). The Health Information Management (HIM) professionals at St. Mary’s hospital put other people first and provide quality service to its customers. The professional also refuse to take part in any practice that is unethical.
The health information management professionals at St. Mary’s hospital also adhere to the 2008 code of ethics. This code helps the HIM professional unethical use of the patient health information either in hard and soft copies (Flite & Harman., 2013). The health information management professionals have members their colleagues at work and also students on attachments and internships. The HIM professionals at St. Mary’s have been able to enhance their knowledge by attending trainings and also furthering their studies (Flite & Harman., 2013). Most of them possess undergraduate degrees and master’s degrees.
The ethics issues such as autonomy, privacy and confidentially hangs on the pendulum as most hospital incorporate information technology in their operation. The full adoption of the Electronic Health Records will also come with its own changes. The compliance and adoption of all the codes of ethics requires the health information professionals to work together with the advocates, policy makers, administrators, lawyers and the advocates of the patients.
Plan for the CEO and managers
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Informatics |
The HIM professionals must be members of the AHIMA. |
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Information governance |
Use the AHIMA information governance model in the provision of health care |
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HIM pathways |
The HIM should be provided with training opportunities. Encourage the HIM professionals to participate in decision making and employ more HIM professionals. |
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Patient engagement |
The patients should be given access to their health information. The patients should be aware of their right to access health information. |
References
Carlson,C. (2017). Improving revenue cycle management in health care. Retrieved from
searchhealthit.techtarget.com/tutorial/Improving-revenue-cycle-management-in-health-care
Flite, C.A.,& Harman, L.B. (2013). Code of ethics: principles for ethical leadership. Perspectives in Health Information Management Association, 10 (Winter).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3544144
Ozair, F.F., Jamshed, N., Sharma, A., & Aggarwal, P. (2015). Ethical issues in electronic health records: a general overview. Perspective in clinical research , 6 (2), 73
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4394583/
Reid, P.P., Compton, W.D., Grossman, J.H., & Fanjiang, G. (2005). Information and communications systems: The backbone of the health care delivery system.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22862/
Yarmohammadian, M.H., Raeisi , A. R.,Tavakoli, N.,& Nansa, L.G. (2010). Medical record information disclosure laws and policies among selected countries; a comparative study. Journal of research in medical sciences: the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences , 15 (3), 140.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3082803/
