Healthcare canters handle different patients with different records that need to be well protected. The meaningful use became effective after Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), was introduced in the health department. Meaningful was initially known as the Electronic Health Record. EHR is the electronic way to store both the patients and medical records electronically. Meaningful use helps to provide quality programs that support healthcare practitioners to report quality data. The service provided under meaningful use is only merit-based services.
The patients need their records to be well protected for future use and away from access by other people. Confidentiality is a significant role in the Medical Office. Some patients may have a compassionate medical diagnosis. In the next two paragraphs, I will explain the definition and ways to protect a patient's privacy.
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Confidentiality is defined as "the state of treating privately or secretly, and not disclosing to other individuals or for public knowledge, the patients' conversations or medical records," (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). What you may see or hear is for the office. Not to be discussed with no other person but exclusively doctor and patient confidentiality. Some ways to protect patient privacy is if the healthcare provider is on a computer, thet should make sure other patients cannot see the screen and if using a shared computer, make sure to log out of their credentials. Another way to protect privacy is when talking on the phone to a patient or an Insurance agency go to an empty room or close the glass separating the waiting room from the reception area and speak in a low clear voice. Also, when making copies make sure you get the original and replace it in its file.
Protecting a patient's health information is not just for moral standards, but it is the law. Disclosing a patient's data could result in fines and imprisonment. The information in a patients file is legal documents. It is your responsibility as a Billing and Coder to uphold these standards. "What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment concerning the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself holding such things shameful to be spoken about." ( McKee, 2016 )
Since January 1, 2014, the medical records have been federally mandated to be electronic (University Alliance, 2013). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included an enactment of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) for improving healthcare in America, which included digitizing all medical records. Since records are newly digitized, are files safer electronically or were paper records better?
Medical records, paper, or electronic, are protected by an act known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which also governs the best practices on privacy issues (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). HIPAA protects a person's health information, which includes nearly all Personally Identifiable Information. Thus one of the major best practices is to keep the healthcare professionals updated with the required standards of handling healthcare records and training program to provide constant practice in the management of health information system. The healthcare facility gathers and held liable for persons’ name, birthdate, address, social security number, insurance information, as well as all other healthcare information. However, adopting a whole new system to a field as big as medicine can be a steep learning curve, and many healthcare providers are opposed to it (Darragh, 2013). For example, a janitor could be cleaning an area with no one around and look inside an unsecured paper record with no log of who pulled out the record. That record could be of a particularly wealthy person with an STD that was not acquired by his wife. That information could then be used to blackmail that person, and the healthcare facility could never know how or when the infringement of such information occurred.
References
Darragh, T. (2013, May 5). The Morning Call. Retrieved Mar 20, 2016, from mcall.com: http://articles.mcall.com/2013-05-05/news/mc-allentown-doctor-opposes-electronic-records-20130505_1_electronic-records-health-care-costs-health-affairs
McKee, S. (2016, March 2016). Power Your Practice. Retrieved from PowerYourPractice.com: http://www.poweryourpractice.com/electronic-health-records/electronic-health-records-safer-than-paper/
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2016, Mar 20). Health Information Privacy. Retrieved from HHS.gov: http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/
University Alliance. (2013, February 8). Federal Mandates for Healthcare: Digital Record-Keeping Will Be Required of Public and Private Healthcare Providers. Retrieved from USF Health Online: http://www.usfhealthonline.com/news/healthcare/electronic-medical-records-mandate/
