Heres my most recent Agrade in HSS210 Fundamentals of Reimbursements in Healthcare, 75/75 = 100%, TITLE: MY IMPLEMENTION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS TITLE: Phase 3 Discussion Board 1 FROM: Bruce Anthony Long, #6064299 COURSE: HSS210-1401A-02 TO: Instructor Susan Summerfield SCHOOL: Colorado Technical University Online DATE: January 26, 2014 MY IMPLEMENTION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS What are some of the benefits or drawbacks of using the electronic health record versus using paper-based records? There is no logical reason that health records or medical records should be paper based. Without the use of electronic technology and computerization in reimbursements throughout healthcare facilities, billing for payments due to hospitals and other departments in healthcare would be slow and involve huge amounts of paperwork. Reimbursements, orders, claims and payments are processed much quicker with electronic medical records (EMRs) because the software in the system is designed to edit, submit and pay the claims. It is also easier to lose or misplace a paper record than it is to lose an Electronic Medical Record. There are problems that are associated with the use of EMRs in the health care industry. The main reason that all hospitals do not have EMRs is due to the high cost of deploying an electronic records system. Setting up a system that provides for interactions between clinicians, departments, providers and payers takes time and the expense of training personnel on how to operate the apparatus that improves the interoperability of clinical information through patient identification. There has been evidence that implementing health information technology was not always successful where there was a lack of knowledge about how to manage electronic medical information. The ICD-9 coding system was developed in 1978 and is being replaced in 2014 by the ICD-10 CM/PCS. The ICD-10 coding is already being used in Europe and other parts of the world while in America there is minimal education of the EHR (Sheridan, 2012). How will the electronic health record (EHR) impact compliance and quality? The problem is that there is no universal standard for interoperability between different information technology systems and software applications so that health care providers can share information to get the best patient care that fits the individuals needs. The documentation provided in our EHRs are required to meet mandatory HIPAA guidelines of patient privacy to protect health information (PHI) that is being received, stored or transmitted. The electronic medical record (EMR) will also be capable of many public health benefits such as early detection of infectious diseases outbreaks around the world and improve tracking of chronic diseases. Many hospitals are using barcode scanning equipment for scanning patient wristbands and doses of prescribed medication at the bedside of patients where the encounter and receipt of medicine is recorded into his electronic medical record. This routine will help to reduce hospital medication errors and provide nurses and doctors with any allergy alarms needed to alert staff of potentially harmful adverse drug effects (ADEs). How will the facility be operating during the phasing in of the new system? Like some hospitals, we will be phasing in our new electronic medical records system gradually, rather than to shut down the hospital’s doors and interrupting patient flow to install a new system of interoperability. We have chosen to phase out paper records by suspending paper activity in our active departments one role at a time. The logical place to begin is at patient registration where we will begin employing the electronic recording method for visiting patients while other HIM employees recompiling our list of former patients and integrate them into the new software to be used electronically throughout the facility. Nurses and Advanced Practice Nurses (APN), using their expertise in Nursing Informatics, will then translate patient medical reports, until all medical records have be compiled for the new system. The APNs will help to bridge the gap between computer and our clinician’s lab reports, patient x-rays, Emergency Room charts, surgery records and other physicians. Nursing Information Specialists (NIS) will translate all paper documents including those regarding nursing homes, rehabs, and the physicians and doctors because nurses provide the largest amount of documentation in health care. We are at a critical phase in our HIM hiring practice at this facility because not only are we changing from paper based records to EMRs but we are preparing our coders to begin to use ICD-10-PC rather than the ICD-9-CM which will be phased out as of October 1, 2014. The ICD- 10 coding format is much different and there are a lot more codes than before so it is understandable that an adjustment period will be needed to realign the way we proceed to research proper billing codes, how to check for code mistakes and how to verify that records are submitted into records that are complete. We look forward to keeping those employees who are currently working in HIM who know CPT, HCPCS, E&M and ICD-9 codes and we will welcome those who start out knowing ICD-10 as part of our health information management team. We will be in a constant training mode this year for the preparation of the launching of the ICD-10 to take affect this October. Once ICD-10 begins to be used in the U.S.A, no reimbursements will be given to claims written with an ICD-9 code describing a procedure. How you would handle any resistance from staff members and end-users? Nurses are concerned that the EHRs will take away valuable patient-care time. We will try to make our staff feel as comfortable as possible so that our employees can adapt to the change in the system from paper records to electronic medical records. It is important for our staff to understand that your cooperation, teamwork and effectiveness in any goals that require your participation will improve the performance of our healthcare facility. If some employees still resist the change over, then we may have to let go of those who do not adapt. Please do the best you can to make your coworkers feel comfortable during this time of transition. References: Buck, C. J. (2007), Step-by-step medical coding 2007 edition, St. Louis, MO, Elsevier Health Sciences. Gilmore, P.L., Mahinka, S.P., Sanzo, K.M. (2007), Overview of healthcare fraud investigations in the US, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Retrieved from: morganlewis/pubs/PLCLifeSciences_OverviewHealthcare_2006-07.pdf Harrison, C. (2011), Medical Office Handbook, Chapter 9, Essentials of Coding, McGraw-Hill n.a. (2008), The False Claims Act, Trinity Health Web site, Retrieved from: trinity-health.org/who/pdf/FCAContent_addendum.pdf Sheridan, S. (2012), The implementation and sustainability of electronic health records, Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (OJNI), 16(3), Retrieved from: ojni.org/issues/?p=1992
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 06:19:49 +0000
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