Question

The field of health information is subject to many laws, regulations, requirements, and standards. The interaction between regulation and health influences the daily operations of healthcare providers. Sharing data between two separate organizations can be a delicate balance between the patient and organizations. Knowing the regulations that govern health information and the release of information is imperative. Failing to adhere to and think about the rules and regulations when forming decisions and policy can expose the organization and provider to unwarranted risk. In this Assignment, you will review issues with data quality and challenge surrounding measuring health data. You will also review release of information requirements.

Instructions:

Create a 5–6 page document that addresses the following:

Discuss the major types of health care information

Analyze four issues associated with poor quality health care data.

Examine the challenges associated with measuring data quality.

Discuss the laws and regulations that govern the release of patient information.

Patient consent required to release information

Outline the process for handling substance abuse medical record data.

Discuss how the releasing organization/provider authenticates a healthcare provider requesting the information.

Discuss how data exchange is secured.

Answer 1

There are many different types of healthcare information systems, including

Operational and tactical systems for easy classification of information

Clinical and administrative systems for managing patient details on an administrative level

Subject and task based systems such as electronic medical records (EMRs) or electronic health records (EHRs)

Financial systems for tracking revenue and managing billing submissions.

There are a number of consistent areas which lead to poor quality of data. These are the absence of standards and guidance to measure data quality; poor training and awareness of data quality issues; badly configured or integrated systems and organisational change.

Challenges associated with measuring data

The diversity of data sources brings abundant data types and complex data structures and increases the difficulty of data integration

Data volume is tremendous, and it is difficult to judge data quality within a reasonable amount of time

Data change very fast and the 'timelines 'of data is very short which necessitates higher requirements for processing technology

No unified and approved data quality standards have been formed and research on the data quality of big data has just begun

Confidentiality of drug abuse patient records

In general,the rule describes the written summary and communication that must occur at the time of admission or as soon as the patient is capable of rational communication, relative to the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records under federal law.; defines circumstances in which an individual's health information can be used and disclosed without patient authorisation.; requires that each disclosure of health information be accompanied by specific language prohibiting redisclosure; does not prohibit patient access ;defines the requirement of a written consent,; addresses who may consent on behalf of the patient.