Question

Scenario You just accepted a role as medical administrator at a podiatrist medical office. There are many responsibilities associated with this position including managing the office, patient registration, insurance verification/referrals, and scheduling following up appointments. As you navigate through your first day at work, the waiting room is full and a patient with a severe foot infection is seeking treatment without an appointment. As part of your new position and responsibilities, you will be required to review, assess, and participate in all medical administrative duties that will support this patient. As the new medical administrator, you have will complete an encounter form of the new patient with a severe foot infection. Identify and summarize the steps for registering this patient by completing the encounter form as the patient and the registration form as the medical administrator, which includes verification of the patient insurance. HIPAA privacy rule should be adhered when registering the patient. important In order to successfully complete the Outpatient Encounter Form and the Patient Registration Form below, please use the information contained in the following document: Patient and Outpatient Information Patient Welcome/Managing Wait Time In one page summarize how to greet the patient and manage the waiting room Include a brief outline describing how to verify the patient's insurance Outpatient Encounter Form Complete this form as the medical administrator: Outpatient Encounter Form Patient Registration Form Complete this form as the patient: Patient Registration Form Apply HIPAA rules when documenting patient information Outline the five steps under the HIPAA privacy rule to ensure patient information is protected while registering the patient. The summary should follow the "Guidelines for Ensuring" patient privacy isn't breached in the reception area

Answer 1

1. Practice privacy everywhere in the Workplace

• Grant patients privacy in your office, whether it is in the lobby or the patient's room.

• Eliminate patient references; it is better to call patients by first or last name only when they are led to their room.

• Create a secure, private space when conversing individually with patients so that only those intended for information are the ones who hear it.

• Never leave unattended or unsecured patient records / files.

• Always knock before entering rooms for patients.

• Ensure that no unauthorized person can display the data on your computer or device while accessing electronic PHI (ePHI);

• Promote this privacy policy for the employees at all times.

2. Post Privacy Announcement

• Print privacy policies and place them in a common and easily visible area in your office so that patients are freely presented with privacy laws and information aimed at protecting confidentiality of their treatment.
• If you have a website for your practice, make sure that a copy of the Privacy Policy Notice is displayed prominently on your website.
• Keep copies of the Privacy Policies Notice available should any of your patients request a copy.

3. Keep Written Policies and Procedures

· • Create a written policy and procedures manual to ensure patient privacy and protection for those in the practice to follow. The manual should also include the forms, notifications, reports and step-by - step procedures for protection of patient privacy and overall compliance with HIPAA.

· • All employees should have access to the policies and procedures. Get the personnel's attestations that they have read and will abide by your written policies and procedures.

• Review your policies and procedures regularly to ensure they stay up-to - date, and discuss them with your staff every year after this discuss.

• Review and amend your policies and procedures, if necessary, if there is a significant change in your practice, such as a change in your EHR or key program that is used as an anti-virus, data backup service or something similar.

4.Train your staff on the Do and Don't HIPAA

• Make sure your workers pass each year through HIPAA preparation.
• Sign and recognize the employees ' understanding of these HIPAA policies and procedures;
• Log training dates and names of the workers as evidence that all of the workers were qualified.
• Mandatory HIPAA preparation should be performed by all health care providers-physicians , nurses and all employees.

5. Take the required annual HIPAA risk assessment

· • Complete this mandatory HIPAA Security Risk Assessment to identify risks within the program. A security risk evaluation would usually verify that the office complies with the HIPAA Protection Rule and the HIPAA Privacy Law. Your security risk assessment will require a thorough analysis of your technological, physical and administrative safeguards and administrative safeguards which are all key elements of the HIPAA Security Rule.

• Where remediation or follow-up is needed for any assessed areas, action plans shall be established with timetables to resolve them.

• Know where the Confidential Health Information for patients is-where it is stored on your EHR, where data backups are stored, where the staff store any PHI, where written copies of the PHI might be stored.