LAST POST Responses to Peers Management Essay Paper

5 Post total of 550 words, respond to each post, MUST HAVE ATLEAST ONE SOURCE PER POST



540 post: Label as 540 post # 1. must be 150 words response to below.



Greetings and welcome to the last discussion topic of this course. When we look at technology and quality improvement one of the areas that I think will make a huge difference and we are starting to see it is telehealth. Think about all of the stuff that is going on right now with the outbreak and how telehealth is being used. I can also see it being used at large health systems that have a number of hospitals where they have a care command center for ICU patients and the providers are in one location watching via video all of the patients within the system and then make decisions based on what they see. Almost like what we see in some professional sports where they have a command center in a different city and they make the final call on certain plays. As a Detroit Lions fan they usually went against us lol.





530 post: Label as 530 Sonia Post # 2. must be 100 words response to below.



With the protection of personal health data, it will always be important to align with changes in technological advancements, especially in a culture driven by electronics. Less than half a century ago, health data was spread through paperwork or verbal communication via in person or on the phone. However, access to information has become easier and health data is not limited to technology. Although the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996 it is still adequate to protect health data in the electronic age. The principles and foundation of HIPAA are what continues to make it relevant and its updates cover issues of electronic transfer of information. In fact, the Security Rule anticipated the reliance on the impact of technology. It helped “establish a national set of security standards for protecting certain health information that is held or transferred in electronic form” (HHS, 2013).



Healthcare organizations must be diligent to ensure protection from liability. They must use approved methods of file storage and transfer. For example, Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and Composite Health Care System (CHCS) are two programs used in the military for patient information and tracking. When medical data needs to be transferred, providers must use encrypted emails and approved network. These safeguards are essential but not all HIPPA violations are intentional. Social media can be an easy medium for the accidental sharing of information. A way to combat this is with proper education of health care staff, emphasizing online etiquette to minimize potential of HIPPA violations via social media. No matter how the health information gets stored or transferred to other people it needs to be protected. It is imperative that focused efforts to guard this information from cyber transfers is implemented.



HHS Office for Civil Rights. (2013). Summary of the HIPAA Security Rule. Retrieved from https://www(dot)hhs(dot)gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/laws-regulations/index.html



530 post: Label as 530 Antonio Post # 3. must be 100 words response to below.



Healthcare compliance regarding patient privacy matters is a complex issue and, with the advancements in electronic health records (EHR) and healthcare information systems, the face of the issue continues to evolve every year. Not only do electronic records need to be maintained, protected, and accounted for, but advancements in computer network infrastructure is changing how we access information and where data is stored. Cloud computing is playing an increasing role in how data is stored, using cloud-based solutions from Amazon, Microsoft, and many others. Hospitals and health care organizations are not immune from having to make these technological leaps and changes.



The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) first introduced in 1996 was intended to promote efficiency in the healthcare system and to protect patient privacy and the handling of protected health information (PHI). The costs of creating a compliance program are relatively low, with an amount less than $100,000 for many organizations (Serrano, 2019). Fines for violations can range from $100 to $50,000 per violation, with a maximum fine of $1,500,000 per violation category each year. In 2018, a reported 90% of healthcare organizations had experienced a data breach over the previous 2 years (Serrano, 2019). This makes healthcare IT security a top priority for healthcare organizations in the United States.



A great portion of HIPAA compliance still comes from having internal policies which are provided to all employees in a simple and efficient manner. Education and training for HIPAA compliance goes a long way to steering the ship towards a straighter course. But in the world of ever-evolving technology, HIPAA compliant health information systems solutions must be evaluated and implemented to achieve better results in the disruption of data breaches. One organization that has HIPAA compliant cloud solutions is Etica Inc. They produced HIPAA Vault, which is a cloud based solution that specialize in the needs of the healthcare organization, and this solution provides efficiencies to organizations who may need to bolster their in-house cyber security expertise (PR Newswire, 2019). It will take significant effort to get many organizations to the eHealth state they want to be in for sustained operations, but as we can see with the current COVID19 problem, it is a posture that organizations need to attain and sustain from now on.







References:



Serrano, H. (2019). How to avoid the devastating consequences of HIPAA noncompliance. Healthcare Financial Management; Westchester Vol. 73, Iss. 5: 28-32.



PR Newswire. (2019). Etica Inc. dba HIPAA Vault Makes the Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest Growing Companies: HIPAA Vault, a leading provider of HIPAA compliant cloud solutions makes the Inc 5000 list. PR Newswire; New York [New York]28 Aug 2019.





520 post: Label as 520 Darrius Post # 4. must be 100 words response to below.



The Affordable Care Act has three goals: provide healthcare for all Americans, control costs of healthcare, and improve the quality of healthcare (Adkinson & Chung, 2014). In addition, health administrators are key influencers for organizational policies and affordable care access within the health organization. Furthermore, health administrators are also tasked with maintaining organizational oversight with regards to community benefit spending in health care. In any case, health administrators extrapolate data metrics and utilize quality indicators to asses the effectiveness of policies within the organization.



For example, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), increased patient revenues due to the expansion of Medicaid and private health insurance, along with substantially increased direct federal investment in the program, have led to growth in the number of health centers and their capacity to provide services (Paradise et al., 2017). Notably, health administrators examine strategies implemented under the Affordable Care Act and the interrelationship with community benefit spending. Accordingly, these implemented strategies take into consideration the societal implications as well as organizational inputs to ensure adequate payment levels are established and that they promote positive healthcare implementation and reform at all levels of healthcare throughout the organization.



520 post: Label as 520 Sonia Post # 5. must be 100 words response to below.



The issues of access to affordable care will always have a ubiquitous presence in our society. There are so many solutions and competing ideas to rectify this problem and although the Affordable Care Act strives to meet these demands there were still 29 million American who did not have healthcare coverage in 2015. The health care administrator has a responsibility to the organizations that employ them as well as to the communities they serve. They can help get individuals enrolled in affordable coverage options as well as rally “community consensus on how healthcare resources and needs should be balanced so that there is affordable access to the right level of care in the right setting at the right time” (American 2016). Their role as a mediator and liaison will help rely community needs so they can be reflected in the laws and regulations created. This is essential because hospitals benefit from the revenue generated in the communities they service. Therefore, the administrator must ensure their profits are justifiable. For example, non-profit organizations receive significant tax benefits for community health programs aimed at improving population health. However, failure to produce results in this regard have left them open to scrutiny by congress. Administrators can assist their organizations through encouraging deliberate attention to “social services or community organizations that address the social forces affecting their patients” (Chaiyachati, 2018). The administrator should prioritize the needs of their patient populations since their organizational policies have the greatest potential to impact these patients.



American College of Healthcare Executives. (2016) Access to affordable healthcare. Retrieved from https://www(dot)ache(dot)org/about-ache/our-story/our-commitments/policy-statements/access-to-affordable-healthcare



Chaiyachati, K. H., Qi, M., & Werner, R. M. (2018) Non-profit hospital community benefit spending based on local sociodemographics. Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved, 29, 1259-1268. Available in the Trident Online Librar