Health care facility remain one of the busiest place to visit. Influx of patients from all walks of life with different medical conditions requires a qualified health care practitioner to determine what action to take whether to treat a condition as emergency or not. The case of Mr. Mark, a 70 year old walking to a healthcare facility looking confused and impatient and at the same time wants to specifically meet Dr. Summer characterize a typical hospital situation. There is need to help Mr. Mark and at the same time ensure there is calm in the facility. Although Mark claims it is an urgent condition, a lot has to be put in place so as to enable him meet the doctor. According to Rothman and Blumenthal, it is not within a patient authority to decide whether his condition is urgent or not (62). There needs to be consultation to enable Dona make decision on the kind of medical attention he needs.
Dona, from the case study is a medical assistant and as such assumed to be a professional health care practitioner charged to behave professionally while discharging her duties. Ethically, Dona should first assure the patience he will be attended to and everything will be fine and all he need to do is to be a little patience as his medical logs is sought and made ready for the doctor to have a better understanding of his past medical situation. Medical ethics require any medical practitioner to be able to contain such kind of patient through explaining to them what need to be done for them to be served (Lindh 124). Mark seemed knowledgeable about the hospital and all Dona needs to do is to make him understand the hospital policies and procedures to facilitate a speedy consultation and treatment.
According to the health insurance portability and accountability (HIPPA) act of 1996, patient’s medical information should be kept secret and safe. One of the ways to ensure Mark is given a professional service is to code his health problem in the language that only the specific healthcare software will interpret to bar any unauthorized person from getting hold of the information and then decoding. Coding help in diagnosing a patient’s current situation then feeding the information in the software to enable the medical biller communicate with insurance company to determine the amount Mark will pay. This is done through a medical billing process after which Mr. Mark will be allowed to see Dr. Summer.
Depending on the outcome of the coding process, Mark can either see Dr. Summer or receive medical assistance from Dona. Judging from the assorted pills in the plastic bag, He seems to be suffering from a case of either a wrong diagnosis, side effects from using the drugs or have abused his prescribed dosage. In case, if the pills were issued by the same hospital and Dona finds out they may have extreme side effects on the patient, she is required to check inventories and stock to facilitate a possible return to supplier or check on storage condition to see whether the side effects of the drugs have something to do with how the drugs are stored. However, it is important to ensure medical procedures are carried out as required by the policy of the institution to ensure smooth flow of health care service provision for all the patients.
Works Cited
Lindh, Wilburta Q. Delmar's Clinical Medical Assisting. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Rothman, David J., and David Blumenthal. Medical Professionalism in the New Information Age. New Jersey: Rutgers UP, 2010. Print.
