Question

Write a summary for each subtitle as it relates to a medical office administrative. Present a Compare and Contrast Example of a Mathematical Analysis through your discussion of the Ledger Card.

• Documentation and Legal Aspects
• Legal and Medical Issues in Medical Practice, Including HIPAA
• Language and Other Communication Barriers in Health Care
• Handling Office Procedures: Physician Billing and Reimbursement
• Conflict in the Workplace
• Managing Diversity in the Workplace
• Ledger Card

Answer 1

1. The medical record contains valuable information about a patient's medical history and individual clinical interactions. Such information supports the ongoing care for the patient by the physician and other providers.

In addition to its clinical significance, the medical record is also a legal document that can serve as evidence of the care provided. A record appropriately created at the time of the encounter and properly maintained contributes greatly to the successful defense of a lawsuit, or in responding adequately to a complaint to a regulatory authority.

2. Every day, patients, families and healthcare professionals face ethical and legal decisions. These difficult dilemmas may concern medical treatments, practices, hospital management and other matters that arise in the healthcare industry. Ethical issues in healthcare can require an immediate response, such as making decisions for patients when they are not able to do so, or can involve a prolonged, carefully considered decision, such as the debate over the right to abortion or assisted suicide. The actions taken in ethical issues in healthcare clearly distinguish between what is right and wrong, and often, many of the actions taken today can have lasting effects on healthcare in the future.

There are numerous ethical challenges clinical leaders, health practitioners, and patients face in healthcare. Some examples of common medical ethical issues include:

1. Patient Privacy and Confidentiality

The protection of private patient information is one of the most important ethical and legal issues in the field of healthcare. Conversations between a physician and a patient are strictly confidential, as is information about an individual’s medical condition. Specific provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, define exactly what information can be released and to whom.

2.Transmission of diseases

3. Relationships :

Sexual harassment can be harmful to all involved, including the facility, so the code of ethics should be explicit about this.

4. End-of-Life Issues

Terminally ill patients may have specific wishes about the way they want their lives to end. Families may struggle with the decision to end life support for a loved one. Healthcare practitioners and clinical leaders need to be prepared to handle end-of-life issues as well as problems encountered in dealing with elderly patients who may not be able to make rational decisions on their own.

3. Language and other communication barriers in health care :

Communication barriers are problems that make it difficult for people to understand each other when they are communicating, such as language barriers, cultural, physical, and environmental barriers.

For those with limited English, and a rising number of migrant patients and use their second language results as language barriers often result in reduced access to health care services, misdiagnoses, poor quality of care, and compromised medical and dental treatment.

Prejudice and personality, including traits like closed-minded, judging are some of the communication barriers

4. Physician reimbursement and the coding to support it are critically important to the sustained health of any physician's practice.  Understanding physician reimbursement is critically important to the sustained health of any physician's practice. Reimbursement involves more than just what you get paid; it is a long, and often convoluted, process that starts when a patient first contacts your office

(1). In order to appropriately maximize your reimbursement, it is imperative that you know the basics. This includes correct coding. The key to beginning to understand this aspect of the business of medicine is to understand the basics of Medicare. While private payers vary in their reimbursement rates and policies, most are tied in some form to the Medicare system.

Physician reimbursement from Medicare is a three-step process:

1) appropriate coding of the service provided by utilizing current procedural terminology (CPT)

2) appropriate coding of the diagnosis using ICD-9 code

3) the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) determination of the appropriate fee based on the resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS).

5. Workplace conflict includes any type of conflict which takes place within a workplace or among workers and/or managers, potentially including conflict between employees out of work hours. The negative effects of workplace conflict can include work disruptions, decreased productivity, project failure, absenteeism, turnover, and termination. Emotional stress can be both a cause and an effect of workplace conflict.

6. Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals in an organization. Diversity not only includes how individuals identify themselves but also how others perceive them. Diversity within a workplace encompasses race, gender, ethnic groups, age, religion, sexual orientation, citizenship status, military service, and mental and physical conditions, as well as other distinct differences between people.

Managing diversity in the workplace presents a set of unique challenges for HR professionals. These challenges can be mitigated if an organization makes a concerted effort to encourage a more heterogeneous environment through promoting a culture of tolerance, open communication and creating conflict management strategies to address issues that may arise.

For leadership to effectively manage diversity in the workplace, they need to understand their backgrounds and how their behavior and beliefs can affect their decision-making within a diverse environment.

7. Patient ledger card is an individual financial record indicating charges, payments, adjustments, and balances owed

Patient ledger card rate.: An accounting form on which professional service descriptions, charges, payments, adjustments, and current balance are posted chronologically.