Provides an understanding of the health care environment and the multiple factors that define the system and the roles of health care professionals within the system. Topics include quantitative analysis, accreditation and certification standards, record retrieval and retention, microfilming systems, indexes and registries and medical staff organization. Emphasis on building a professional lexicon required for working in the medical field using vocabulary related to body systems, anatomical structure, medical processes and procedures and a variety of diseases. I 2 credits Places students in an acute care health facility for practical applications of clerical duties in a medical record department. Students are introduced to the daily operations of a medical record department and practice clerical skills learned in the classroom.
Students also practice interacting with professional and clerical personnel in an office setting.
Includes the legal aspects of hospitals and medical staff organizations, release of information and legal actions requiring evidence from medical records. Includes practical application of coding inpatient and outpatient records and practice in prospective payment and computerized encoding. Includes discussion of the management functions of planning, organizing, controlling, and staffing a health information management department. Course content includes licensure and accreditation standards and record format. Provides supervised practice in Health Information Management that includes coding, health information systems, quality improvement studies, and managerial functions.