1. UNIT 8 Seminar

2.  According to Sanderson (2009), the Practice Partner is an electronic health record and practice management program for ambulatory practices. The electronic health record portion of the program, known as Patient Record, is widely used in medical practices throughout the United States. With that being said let’s begin our discussion.

3.  Question 1: How does the use of access levels protect the privacy of information in a patient record?

4.  Question 1 Answer:  Access levels limit access to information based on the type of information each user will need to view or modify.  Access levels are created for different positions in the office such as physician, nurse, billing, reception, etc.  The access levels define which areas of the program a user can view and whether the user can add, edit, or delete information, or just view the information.

5.  Question 2: Discuss the purpose of the dashboard.

6.  Question 2 Answer: the dashboard offers providers a convenient view of important information, including messages, to do list, unsigned lab orders, notes and more. The main areas of the dashboard include: schedule, messages, lab review, to do, and not review.

7.  Question 2 answer (continued):  The schedule area present the daily schedule for the provider with appointment time, patient name, length of visit, and reason for visit.  The messages section lists electronic messages for the provider.

8.  Question 2 answer (continued): the lab review area presents lab results for the current provider that need to be reviewed. Information listed includes patient name, patient identification number, date of the lab work, and time the results were sent.

9.  Question 2 answer (continued): the to do section lists action items for the provider, including the date the item was added to the list, the priority assigned to the task, the patient’s name, the patient identification number, and the subject of the note.  The note review area presents notes for the provider to review, and contains a patient name, date, and time of the note and the note’s subject.

10.  Question 3: Where is patient registration information stored and accessed?

11.  Question 4: What is the function of the chart summary?

12.  Question 4 answer: the chart summary provides an overview of key information in a patient chart. Information cannot be addressed, edited, or deleted from the chart summary screen; it is used for viewing only.

13.  Question 5: How are progress notes entered?

14.  Question 5 Answer: progress notes are entered in the following ways:  By typing directly in the progress note screen on the computer  By the use of voice recognition software that takes a provider’s spoken words and transfers them into a word processing document  By digital dictation  By traditional dictation and transcription

15.  Question 6. How does Practice Partner assist with coding a patient encounter?

16.  Question 6 Answer: the Practice Partner analyzes information in a progress note and suggests an appropriate E/M code (CPT code) for the patient visit. The coding/billing staff can override the automated entry if necessary.

17.  Question 7: What are the two safety and cost-control features of the electronic order entry and the medication list in Practice Partner?

18.  Question 7 Answer: the electronic order entry checks whether an insurance plan requires preauthorization before a test or procedure can be performed. It also checks that the order is appropriate for the patient in light of a patient’s age, diagnoses, allergies, medications, etc.

19.  Question 7 Answer (continued): the medication list in a patient’s chart organizes the medications into three groups: current, ineffective, and historical.

20.  Question 8: How does Practice Partner display abnormal values in vital signs and lab results?

21.  Question 8 Answer: abnormal results in vital signs or lab tests are displayed in different colors, making it easy to notice an abnormal result. Providers are immediately sent an electronic message if results are in a critical range.

22.  Question 9: How can the HIPAA section of the patient chart be used to document HIPAA compliance?

23.  Question 9 answer: the HIPAA section of the patient chart can be used to document when a patient was give required forms, such as the Notice of Privacy Practices. Signed consent forms can bee scanned and saved in the patient chart.

24.  Question 10: Do you believe that HIPAA rules and regulations with an emphasis on patient privacy will be compromised with the implementation of the EHR?

25.  Question 10 (my thoughts): As with anything, I believe that there will always be pitfalls. There are numerous measures to ensure a patient’s privacy is protected with the implementation of the EHR. However, just as with paper-based records there is always that chance that a patient’s privacy will be compromised.

26.  Sanderson, (2009). Electronic health records for allied health careers. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.