Presentation
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Running Head: Research Paper Final Draft
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Research Paper Final Draft
Research Paper Final Draft
Himaswetha Polavarapu
Dr.Mary Cecil
University Of The Cumberlands
Information Governance
12/01/2019
ABSTRACT
One of major issues in todays hospitals is period for which medical records are to be retained. Therefore health information managements professionals have traditionally performed record retention and also the destruction functions using media, including the paper, images, the optical disk, microfilm, the DVD, and also CD-ROM. Health information managements departments therefore has to maintain specific program in order to retain and also destruct records. The main purpose of this paper to investigate and maintain the retention and also destruction process of the medical records in hospitals and codifying appropriate guidelines. The research is conducted as cross-sectional descriptive study in hospitals in India. Data was collected using the Check List. Viewpoints to be obtained using Delphi technique. Data entry and also the statistical analysis are performed using the SPSS.
INTRODUCTION
Due to many practices and services offered to people in healthcare that cater to the basic needs of an individual, the company undergoes a series of changes in record overtime which are retained safely to avoid them landing into unauthorized hands because some documents may be carrying sensitive information about individuals. Record retention involves storing records that are not in use anymore for example marriage certificates. Because of this need, different companies have developed an online policy of record detention that will determine how long should these records be retained and provide a disposal guideline. In my research, I will analyze online policies developed by the Healthcare industry on the management of their record retention.
BACKGROUND
Record retention is a very important step initiated in healthcare to ensure there is continuity of care for a patient. Professionals traditionally have been maintaining records through different means like using media as well as paper from which it can be retrieved when the owner visits the healthcare unit again thus can be used for time reference. The management has established an online policy through an appropriate retention schedule which will ensure there is minimal or no legal discovery of the records detained, this approach has worked positively in many organizations including the healthcare sector. Advancement to an online system of record retention through technology has improved the management of this process where data can be retrieved from the system for a specific person very fast and securely according to (Kruse.et.al.2015).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Retention Policies
In the healthcare system, management of records involves some basic steps from creation to utilization to maintenance then finally to retention. The following guidelines are responsible for the development, management, and implementation of a record retention program;
· Records need to be kept as per the initial agreement like which document to be retrained and for how long it will take under retention. This helps the management to monitor and understand the nature of documents under retention and can easily be retrieved according to how they were saved on a program according to (Ryan, Edney & Maher 2017).
· Clarity of the policy to show the types of records detained for example for X-ray records of people need to be retained in a different folder from the one that entails birth certificates of people so that the retrieval process can be easy whenever a customer comes back.
· Within the policy as well, there is a retention period for every document as this will enable easy determination of documents ready to be discarded after their detection period is over according to (Wolff.et.al.2016).
· Through the management of retained records in healthcare, we have procedures that except specific documents from the program like it copies files to a specific directory on LAN that stores ‘important files’ on the health records of clients who visit the healthcare.
After analyzing the procedures to put in place when deducing the best online policy for record retention in the healthcare system, health care entities also need to align their record retention with those a federal and state-specific record retention requirements which will enable them to manage their records well and ensure their total security especially when they are keeping the records for national security groups. With all these, in place, the healthcare industry will have an easy way to manage and control their record retention and have a clear way to protect their health records according to (Redelmeier & Kraus 2018).
As an patient-centered decision in the support systems that are being to be implemented, that is very important in order to ensure validity of generated output. Misclassification of the errors that can be very dangerous in the domain. Therefore the Patient systems, which needs to be embedded in the mobile devices, that needs to be evaluated and also be approved by the medical experts. Therefore the data transmitted from various different sources that can be potentially leveraged by various providers to improve the patient and also for population health for outcomes. However, the accurate measures are still to be needed to assess improve the performance of the systems. In addition, to these metrics that needs account for the biases that are present in the patient-generated data. Prior research indicated PHR systems that are mostly used by various patients who are therefore typically more sick. Therefore, findings and also the models generated from the analyzing data might not be very generalizable to very other patient in the populations.
The record’s lifecycle commences when information is created and ends with the destruction of the data. The objective for healthcare institutions is to manage each step in the lifecycle of the records as a way to ensure their availability. Information creation is easy to do and many organizations are satisfied when utilizing or creating information.
The problems occur as they try to retain or maintain this data. Issues that come up include lack of file spacing and can be labor intensive, especially when it comes to the retrieval of the records. A countermeasure is a record retention schedule where maintenance can be conducted by storing the records in another location and scanning to provide softcopies. Even as new media and technologies are implemented and developed, many institutions lack the capability to scan previous records in order to free up storage spaces. Consequently, health information is stored in multiple locations and storage media, creating the need for clear definitions of record retention plans.
Research Question
How has the healthcare industry like other industries develop an online policy system that manages record retention?
Research Methods
In order to satisfy the objectives of the dissertation, a qualitative research was held. The main characteristic of qualitative research is that it is mostly appropriate for small samples, while its outcomes are not measurable and quantifiable (see table 3.1). Its basic advantage, which also constitutes its basic difference with quantitative research, is that it offers a complete description and analysis of a research subject, without limiting the scope of the research and the nature of participant’s responses (Collis & Hussey, 2003).
However, the effectiveness of qualitative research is heavily based on the skills and abilities of researchers, while the outcomes may not be perceived as reliable, because they mostly come from researcher’s personal judgments and interpretations. Because it is more appropriate for small samples, it is also risky for the results of qualitative research to be perceived as reflecting the opinions of a wider population (Bell, 2005).
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
This aim is complete, detailed description inorder to classify the features and also count them inorder to construct the statistical models to make an attempt inorder to explain the observed and also in the phases of the research projects inorder to recommend the phases of the research projects. The research design also emerges as per the folds and also on various aspects that are to be carefully designed before the data is to be collected by using the data gathering instrument. Therefore the questionnaires are used to collect the qualitative data and the SPSS packages are used in validation studies.The data is collected in form of statistics and the subjective individual interpretation of the events and the participant observation,in-depth analysis measurement & analysis of target concepts, e.g., uses surveys, questionnaires etc.
Data Collection Plan
Health care involves a diverse set of public and private data collection systems, including health surveys, administrative enrolment, health records and billing records, used by various entities including government entities, hospitals, clinics and community health centers, physicians, and health plans.
Healthcare professionals collect various types of data during ongoing patient care but also for research. Data collection requires a consent from the patient, and research studies require an individual consent. Some basic types of data are Electronic health records which are generally not available for outside researchers, administrative data, claims data, patient, disease registries, Health surveys, clinical trials data. Clinical trials are registered to databases to collect information about new research studies. Qualitative Data Collection collects a piece of detailed information about a product or an issue
The paper questionnaires are frequently used for qualitative data collection from the participants. The questionnaire consists of short text questions, which are often open-ended. The motive of these questions is to collect as much detailed information as possible in respondents own words
focused group discussion, researchers get to know how a particular group of participants perceives the topic. Researchers analyze what participants think of an issue, the range of opinions expressed, and ideas discussed
There are mainly three different types of research interviews structured, semi-structured and unstructured. The Structured interviews are, the essentially, verbally administered ones with collecting the questionnaires, in which list of the predetermined questions are generally asked, with little or mostly with no variation and with also no scope for the follow-up questions in regards to the responses that warrants the further elaboration. Therefore they are to be relatively quick and also very easy to administer particular use of the clarification of the certain questions that are generally required if there are to be likely literacy or various numeracy problems with respondents.
Here in Healthcare type setting Semi structured Interviews are carried out. Semi-structured interviews consist of several key questions that help to define the areas to be explored, but also allows the interviewer or interviewee to diverge in order to pursue an idea or response in more detail. This interview format is used most frequently in healthcare, as it provides participants with some guidance on what to talk about, which many find helpful. The flexibility of this approach, particularly compared to structured interviews, also allows for the discovery or elaboration of information that is important to participants but may not have previously been thought of as pertinent by the research team.
Results
The agency must have policies in place regarding the retention and destruction of medical records. For advice on record destruction, agencies are to contact agency legal counsel, or in the case of public entities. Family planning clinics must retain all records, documents and correspondence relative to medical services for a period determined by agency legal counsel. Records may be stored in inactive or closed files per agency policies. Records of minors shall be retained for a period past majority determined by agency legal counsel. Records of clients receiving contraceptive devices shall be kept indefinitely.
Discussion
Monitoring of client medical records must be periodically performed. (Refer also to Section 10.4, Quality Assurance, on quality monitoring of medical records).Concurrent medical record monitoring should be performed after each clinic session by consistently assigned staff. There should be a system in place to identify medical record deficits and to resolve identified problems. Periodic medical record audits must be conducted. Audits should randomly sample records of new patients, continuing patients, teens or method specific users for compliance to medical practice and documentation standards
Conclusion
A poorly developed the mismanaged documentation retention policy which lead to the spoliation or the obstruction of the justice under the both of the federal law and also the state law. Therefore, the healthcare providers, the healthcare facilities, also entities in healthcare industry that is must not only the adopt, but also strictly to follow the sound documentation retention and also the destruction policies. Therefore the Federal and also state laws that is therefore complement on the one another in the state laws to be dictated when in for the long medical records be kept and in the federal law that prevents them in being disclosed. In therefore all of the, federal and also the state rules, will be including in the rules of the evidence, in the healthcare law and also the HIPAA that provide a comprehensive network of the rules that in the protect sensitive of healthcare in information of the patients and also the consumers.
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