The criterion required in the Medicare participation conditions is the provision of a medical record service that caters for the patients’ medical record. In this policy, the health information is put in electronic documents in the Apex Patient folder. There is a standard policy record information protection which is set to protect record information confidentiality. It provides safeguards for its destruction. These are similar with the Willow Bend Policy which provides safeguards to protect their document against destruction. The Willow Bend Policy maintains the converted paper health records into electronic health records maintained in an area that is safe and secure. This is because the HIPAA requires that the patient information is stored with confidentiality. The privacy provisions that include the security provision are also stated in the HIPAA Administrative Simplification provisions. The HIPAA privacy rule sets conditions that aim at protecting the health information which is to be used and disclosed for the purpose of research. This Policy thus helps in maintaining the privacy and confidentiality that is required by the HIPAA (United States, 2004). The records that have been under investigation should not be destroyed. The records that are supposed to be destroyed should not be accessed by unauthorized personnel. Similar with the Willow Bend Policy it safeguards the information to avoid destruction. Based on the state regulations of Florida, there is a law that requires the health care providers to keep the medical records for a specific period. Florida State requires that the public hospitals keep records for a period not less than seven years after discharge of the patient. The Will Bend Record Policy is in line with this law as it stores the adult medical record for a period of ten years. The Florida statute on medical records requires that the original records are examined to ensure that these records have not been damaged or destroyed. The Willow Bend Policy also safeguards the information against these destructions.
References
Florida Bar. & Florida Bar. (2012). Advanced health law topics and certification review 2012. Tallahassee, FL: The Florida Bar.
Florida Medical Record Association. (1987). A Medical/legal guide to health care records in Florida. West Palm Beach, Fla.: Florida Medical Record Association
United States. (2004). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration.
