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Electronic medical records and it's important
Electronic medical records and it's important
Electronic medical records and it's important
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Medical records play an essential role at any hospital, because it is considered as a depository of patient 's health observations, analysis, and physical examinations. Since the 1920s, paper medical records have gradually grown all over the world. They are easy to use for senior doctors, nurse, physicians, and anyone with medical expertise, and all of them can use it without any additional skills. It revolutionized the field of medical services, which benefited both patients and medical service providers.
The daily use of paper-based medical records sometimes become out of control, because these records have some problems according to their nature. First, the paper-based records need to record by hand and store in physical database that can
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Backup of the paper records must be done by hand or by automatic copier that can cost the hospital a lot of money to copy the records and then transport them to a safe archive.
Furthermore, paper-based medical records have issues with security and confidentiality, because we cannot determine who has disclosed and seen these papers, and that violates the data confidentiality and integrity, as anyone can alter, duplicate, or misuse the paper documents. Even though paper medical records have enlivened the medical sector and brought about a quantum leap in patients’ care, they still have some shortcomings that cannot be overlooked. Consequently, health care providers continuously try to find a perfect replacement for paper medical records that can save time, space, and cost at the same
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As the evolution of electronic medical records continued, there were also new amendments and laws made to regulate the privacy of the electronic medical records. Thus, the United States Congress declared a new law, which is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and president Bill Clinton signed this law in 1996. This law was introduced to fulfill some of the privacy and security issues that faced healthcare in the United
How would you like to keep track of your personal health information record in your computer at home? The electronic data exchange was one of the goals of the government to improve the delivery and competence of the U.S. healthcare system. To achieve this plan, the U.S. Congress passed a regulation that will direct its implementation. The Department of Health and Human Services is the branch of the government that was assigned to oversee the HIPAA rules. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is a national public law in the United States that was created to improve health insurability, prevent insurance abuse and to protect the privacy and security of a person’s health information.
– Health plans; – Health care clearinghouses;. – Health care providers who transmit health information in electronic form for certain standard transactions. Even though HIPAA was signed into law over seven years ago, its effects are mostly being felt now. This is because of its schedule of compliance. * 10/16/2002 - Transactions and code sets * 4/14/2003 – Privacy Rule * 4/14/2003 – Business Associates * 4/20/2005 – Security Rule This delay stems from a provision in the original act stating that if Congress did not specify certain regulations by the end of 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had to do it.
For years now, the healthcare system in the United States have managed patient’s health records through paper charting, this has since changed for the better with the introduction of an electronic medical record (EMR) system. This type of system has helped healthcare providers, hospitals and other ambulatory institutions extract data from a patient’s chart to help expedite clinical diagnosis and providing necessary care. Although this form of technology shows great promise, studies have shown that this system is just a foundation to the next evolution of health technology. The transformation of EMR to electronic heath record system (EHR) is the ultimate goal of the federal government.
If you are in the healthcare industry, you have probably heard some rumblings about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, coolly referred to as HIPAA. The word is your medical practice will have to be HIPAA compliant by April 2003, but you're not exactly sure what this act mandates or how to accomplish it. In very basic terms, HIPAA has two primary components to which hospitals, health plans, healthcare "clearinghouses," and healthcare providers must conform: 1) Administrative simplification, which calls for use of the same computer language industry-wide; 2) Privacy protection, which requires healthcare providers to take reasonable measures to protect patients' written, oral, and electronic information. Congress passed HIPAA in an effort "to protect the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information. "1 Additionally, lawmakers "sought to reduce the administrative costs and burden associated with healthcare by standardizing data and facilitating transmission of many administrative and financial transactions." 1 HIPAA consultants say the new regulations should save the healthcare industry money in the long run, provide improved security of patient information, and allow patients to have better access to their own healthcare information.
Historically, physicians and nurses documented patients’ health information using paper and pencil. This documentation created numerous errors in patients’ medical records. Patient information became lost or destroyed, medication errors occur daily because of illegible handwriting, and patients had to wait long periods to have access to their medical records. Since then technology has changed the way nurses and health care providers care for their patients. Documentation of patient care has moved to an electronic heath care system in which facilities around the world implement electronic health care systems. Electronic health records (EHR) is defined as a longitudinal electronic record of
US Congress created the HIPAA bill in 1996 because of public concern about how their private information was being used. It is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which Congress created to protect confidentiality, privacy and security of patient information. It was also for health care documents to be passed electronically. HIPAA is a privacy rule, which gives patients control over their health information. Patients have to give permission any health care provider can disclose any information placed in the individual’s medical records. It helps limit protected health information (PHI) to minimize the chance of inappropriate disclosure. It establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers must comply with and strictly investigates compliance related issues while holding violators to civil or criminal penalties if they violate the privacy of a person’s PHI. HIPAA also has boundaries for using and disclosing health records by covered entities; a healthcare provider, health plan, and health care clearinghouse. It also supports the cause of disclosing PHI without a person’s consent for individual healthcare needs, public benefit and national interests. The portability part of HIPAA guarantees patient’s health insurance to employees after losing a job, making sure health insurance providers can’t discriminate against people because of health status or pre-existing condition, and keeps their files safe while being sent electronically. The Privacy Rule protects individual’s health information and requires medical providers to get consent for the release of any medical information and explain how private health records are protected. It also allows patients to receive their medical records from any...
Previously, healthcare information has been protected by state law. However, since this information crosses state lines, the need for federal protection has been warranted. In 1996, Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA provides the first federal protection for the privacy of medical records (Burke & Weill, 2005) HIPPA encourages the use of electronic medical record and the sharing of medical records between healthcare providers, because it can aid in saving lives. HIPAA requires that patients have some knowledge of the use of their medical records and must be notified in writing of their providers' privacy policy. HIPAA has technical requirements which a healthcare provider, insurer, or service provider, unless exempt under state law, must provide. An organization must conduct a self evaluation to learn what threats its records face, and develop techniques needed to protect the information (HIPAA, 1996). HIPAA's purpose is to protect the privacy of the consumers.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, most commonly known by its initials HIPAA, was enacted by Congress then signed by President Bill Clinton on August 21, 1996. This act was put into place in order to regulate the privacy of patient health information, and as an effort to lower the cost of health care, shape the many pieces of our complicated healthcare system. This act also protects individuals from losing their health insurance if they lose their employment or choose to switch employers. . Before HIPAA there was no standard or consistency for the enforcement of the privacy for patients and the rules and regulations varied by state and organizations. HIPAA virtually affects everybody within the healthcare field including but not limited to patients, providers, payers and intermediaries. Although there are many parts of the HIPAA act, for the purposes of this paper we are going to focus on the two main sections and the four objectives of HIPAA, a which are to improve the portability (the capability of transferring from one employee to another) of health insurance, combat fraud, abuse, and waste in health insurance, to promote the expanded use of medical savings accounts, and to simplify the administration of health insurance.
Today, you have more reason than ever to care about the privacy of your medical information. This information was once stored in locked file cabinets and on dusty shelves in the medical records department.
Medical facilities have to follow certain guidelines. They have to insure patient’s privacy in all areas. The medical facility has to protect the patient medical records and all healthcare information for the patient. If paper files are still in use at the medical facility, it should be stored, where it can be locked at close of business. Also, medical files should not be kept where individuals, other than those that need to use them, have access to them. Electronic medical records are being pushed for all facilities, large or small. The thought is less chance of someone having access that should not. There are firewalls, password use, encryption and other means of protecting electronic health records.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) affects every aspect of health care from patient privacy to insurance coverage. The federal act was first passed in 1996, yet the first major rule did not go into effect until 2003, protecting patient privacy. HIPAA ultimately came into effect due to the issues regarding patient privacy, security and coverage. Another major concern for both health care workers and the public was the exchange of patient information from one facility to another. Until the relatively recent decision to enforce HIPAA, a patient’s medical record was primarily recorded and maintained on paper and stored in locked cabinets or drawers. Not only was this method inefficient, but patients were also starting to become increasingly concerned over the privacy of these documents.
If a patient has a lot of problems and has been treated, then their file will have more information. Certain records also contain history of complaints and procedures, few records have photographs with a short summary of what is present. Medical records can be electronically stored, traditionally handwritten and even voice recorded. Medical records that are written on paper and kept in folders are divided into informative sections. It contains medical terminology terms that any person in the medical field can read.
In the modern era, the use of computer technology is very important. Back in the day people only used handwriting on the pieces of paper to save all documents, either in general documents or medical records. Now this medical field is using a computer to kept all medical records or other personnel info. Patient's records may be maintained on databases, so that quick searches can be made. But, even if the computer is very important, the facility must remain always in control all the information they store in a computer. This is because to avoid individuals who do not have a right to the patient's information.
The debate is still going on today about what can and cannot be done legitimately with patients health information. There are worries about who should be able to access the patient’s information and for what reasons do they have to be accessing the patient’s health information. While on the other side there is an increasing need for performance assessments, efficient health guard, and a proficient administration for more and better information. Health care services are now starting to realize that they have a lot of work to do to be in compliance with the current health laws on the state and federal level guidelines when it comes to dealing with protecting patient data.
Over the last several years, electronic medical records are becoming more prominent in health care facilities, replacing traditional written records. As many electronics are becoming more prevalent with the invention of numerous smartphones and tablet devices, it seems that making medical records available electronically would be appropriate for the evolving times. Even though they have been in use to some extent for many years, the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has brought paperless documentation into the spotlight” (Eisenberg, 2010, p. 8). The systems of electronic medical records mainly consist of clinical note taking, prescription and medication documentation,