Notions of apprehension and fear of a paperless system is brought to the fore front by those who are deemed to commission the latest and greatest EMR technology. Medical Record Security State laws are specific on the access to patient’s records to only those authorized to do so. A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and to protect the public's health and well being. The Rule strikes a balance that permits important uses of information, while protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing. What information should be protected, How to deter security as well as how to keep this organization patient’s records safe.
This may be achieved through advance planning, either through a written document such as an advance care plan, or by appointing a person to make decisions on their behalf such as a medical enduring power of attorney. What are advance care directives? Advance directives are the plans that a patient makes for his or her future health care decisions in the event that he or she cannot make those decisions independently. Advance directives can be oral or in writing. Patients should be strongly encouraged to put their wishes in writing, this makes it easier for health practitioners who don’t know the patient to act according to their wishes.
“Why are health care professionals required to gain consent before providing treatment and care” Health care professionals are required to gain consent before providing treatment and care to every patient in both the public and private health care setting. Consent is a voluntary agreement with an action proposed by another. The person must be of significant mental capacity and be in possession of essential information about the procedure in order to give valid consent. Informed consent is given based on the principles of autonomy and privacy whereby the patient must be informed of the risks benefits of the procedure, which will take place. Informed consent could be implied, explicit, verbal or written.
According to Kaplan University (n.d.), medical office managers must be competent in medical records management, billing and coding, and insurance processing. Medical office managers, also known as medical practice managers or medical practice administrators, oversee single and multiple medical offices within the same company. A manager’s responsibilities can vary depending upon the type and size of the medical practice, along with the structure of management. (Medical Office Manager Job Descriptions & Career Opportunities, n.d.). Whether in a large facility clinic or a small medical office, managers are responsible for the overall business operations.
The Importance of Proper Chart Documentation Introduction One of the most important things you will do in your job in the healthcare profession is charting. Charting is the way healthcare professionals communicate a patient’s weight, height, condition, medication, and past medical history. As soon as you walk in a doctor’s office, hospital, or any medical facility charting begins from the moment you sign in. Only healthcare professionals that are certified, licensed, or registered to chart should do so. There are three reasons proper chart documentations are important: to avoid lawsuits, keep accurate medical information for patient, and to maintain proper communication from one professional to another.
Understanding the Patient Intake Process HCR/220 Sunday September 9, 2012 Understanding the Patient Intake Process The patient process can vary from office to office, and can be very time consuming. Basically, the patient intake process is gathering and retrieving information for new and established patients to ensure efficient and effective service. Understanding the patient intake process will ensure that patients receive the medical services they need and that they are billed appropriately for those services. When checking in a patient you may choose to "process" the patient- this means reviewing the patient's demographics, insurance coverage, scanning insurance cards or drivers license, collecting a co-pay, printing a receipt, etc. By providing an efficient intake process, a certain flow can be maintained to move the process along smoothly and more organized.
For the medical insurance specialist to complete their duties, they need to follow a series of ten different steps in the billing process that leads to a maximum, appropriate, and timely payment for the patients’ medical services. Step 1 Preregister patients – With this step you need to get the patients contact and insurance information. This will help in making sure the appropriate visits can be scheduled and the current insurance information is in the computer for proper billing information goes into the computer system for the vist. Step 2 Establish financial responsibilities for visits – This is a very important step in the process because the specialist needs to verify insurance eligibility and figure out how much to collect at the time of the visit from the patient. To determine financial responsibility the specialist needs to know what services are covered and are not covered under the patients plan.
Introduction Becoming a Medical Assistant (MA) comes with a lot of hard work, dedication and last but not least, responsibilities not only to the physicians or staff but mostly to the patients. The responsibilities include handling the medical care and the administrative tasks. The main responsibility however, is being able to treat the patients and treat them with the care they are needed at that time. As a Medical Assistant, you can find employment within the health care industry such as doctor offices, hospitals, or private or government health care centers. While pursuing a diploma in Medical Assisting you have to know what the prerequisites are in order to become certified and/or licensed Medical Assistant.
Medical Office Management Portfolio Unit 7- Annotated Bibliography Medical Office Management is an individual with many roles in a Health Care environment. Office managers rather are clinical or in a hospital, need resources and their best ability make sure everything that they are facing is coordinated well with the facility. This stands for current and recurrent issues that come across. Current Issues: Seven Steps to Being a Better, Physicians Practice by Audrey McLaughlin, RN Article June 21, 2012 This article talks about Managing solely from your desk is an issue and as a manager moving around, putting your hands in to help is the best way to get things resolved and complete. This is a customer service plus not only for patients and their families, for the staff as well.
Some potential career paths include physician office or clinic assisting, hospital setting medical assisting, optometry assisting, and chiropractic assisting. This career field has numerous daily hand on patient care requirements such as recording patient history, medication lists, taking vitals, performing EKG’s, administering vaccines, and drawing blood. There are also numerous front office requirements such as “scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purpose” (O-Net). The actual daily requirements on the job will be determined by the position held and the type of specialty that the office specialized in, but all of the skills are essential to know to be gainfully employable in this field. It is predicted by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation that an increase of 14% will occur over the next ten years in the demand of medical assisting positions.