Introduction
It is always important to have a well-prepared public health workforce with the ability to prevent, respond, and rapidly recover from the public health threats as a measure of protecting the national health. The new emphases towards funding for the public health facilities have been able to heighten expectations regarding the health systems and their preparedness for handling emergency cases. Public health departments have been able to make recommendable progress since 2001, subject to demonstrate the CDC’s state preparedness reports (Clements, 2009). However, the state and local public health departments continue encountering multiple challenges that include the ever-evolving list of the public health threats. Regardless of the type of threat, an effective public health response plan needs to have an effective public health system that has robust systems in place for conducting routine public health activities. The paper is going to examine existing procedures related to the essential public health services, followed by specifying the importance of continuing to evaluate patients, and then detail possible measures to use in maintaining electronic medical records, and analyzing the extent to which the emergency preparedness might affect the quality of services within the organization.
Examining the existing procedures relating to the ten (10) essential public health services
The first area I propose to examine is the leadership of the health facility. Having a strong leadership in place for handling health emergency is essential for the organization. According to Public Health Preparedness (2006), leaders that are willing to take responsibility for and making decisions in hypothetical situations are much important than compared to those leaders that are only willing to be co-in-charge with other leaders. Additionally, these leaders will be important for facilitating organizational change, motivating staff, developing essential relationships with the key community groups, and engage in training staff towards assuming various roles in cases of emergency. I believe that this procedure relates to the aspect of informing, educating, and empowering people about health problems, which is part of the ten essential public health services.
The second area that I propose to examine is the quality and accountability of the health facility. The health facility needs to have appropriate measures that account for the use of funds spent on emergency medical preparedness services. The same area also monitors the quality of services that the organization has in place to help talk emergency needs of their occurrences. Assessment of quality and accountability will help at answering questions like, “how is our health facility prepared for emergency?” and “how do we know for sure that we are prepared for an emergency?” The ability to answer these questions conclusively will help in determining the level of preparedness the facility has towards responding to massive emergency cases. I believe that this procedure relates to one of the ten essentials of public health services that call for monitoring the health status to identify and solve the community health problems.
The third area that I propose to examine as the vice president of quality and safety is assessing the structured elements of preparedness. The first aspect here entails assessing the elements of preparedness, which may entail assessing the presence and quality of plans or the infrastructure. Conducting these assessments will provide the opportunity of testing the jurisdictions’ ability in adopting plans and resources towards the unexpected and changing circumstances. The assessment will also involve exercises and drills of processes basing on the realistic scenarios. The analysis in this area will help in identifying possible areas of biases and ensure equity in the distribution of services to cover all the emergency needs equally. Having a well-developed element of preparedness within the health facility is more critical in the emergency plan. I believe that assessing the structured elements of preparedness relates to the aspect of developing policies and plans that are in support of individual and community health efforts, which is also part of the ten essential public health services.
The fourth area that I propose to examine as the vice president of quality and safety is assessing the effectiveness of quality improvement activities. The process will entail identifying examples of quality improvement activities present in other areas of public health, especially by looking at the clinical services that different health departments provide to their patients and during emergencies. There will be a need to identify and develop regular preparedness exercises as being the condition for releasing federal funds. In case the need requires, the process will entail following the corrective actions trough some corrective actions, which may entail tracking gaps identified through action reports. There will also be a need for building a requirement for the corrective actions to follow when initiating improvement initiatives. I believe that this procedure relates to one of the ten essential public health services that call for an evaluation of the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services. Following such recommendations will help in ensuring that the health facility is well prepared for meeting increased emergency cases as part of the public health preparedness initiatives.
It is important to ensure that there is a continuous patient evaluation as stipulated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) during an emergency. The reason behind this measure is that the burden of uncompensated care continues growing. Hence continuous patient evaluation will be effective at cutting some extra costs that would arise due to preventable illnesses and health complications. Through continuous assessments, emergency physicians will be able to provide the most charity care to patients of all kind. During an emergency, patients will be able to receive screening and treatment for emergency medical conditions hence help at alleviating possible health complications regardless of the insurance plan or the ability of the patient to pay for such services. EMTALA defines an emergency as a condition that manifests itself through the acute symptoms of sufficient severity such that the when immediate medical attention is absent, it will result in the serious jeopardy of individual’s health (Winterbauer & Diduk, 2012). Therefore, continuous patient evaluation is significant for preventing the occurrence of serious medical conditions to patients.
Measures to incorporate in maintaining electronic medical record system during emergency
The first measure is implementing issues. Some of the issues that need implementation include making a choice of an efficient electronic medical records implementation team or specialists. There will be a need for also making a choice on the costs associated with implementation, or considering technical complications of the system. As an example, there is a possibility of rural hospitals and smaller medical facilities to find it challenging in meeting the meaningful requirements of the electronic medical record systems. In many cases, there is a tendency for doctors prioritizing patient care over records management. Therefore, to ensure that emergency medical records are subject to maintain during emergencies, there to facilitate the shift from using paper-based to the electronic systems, entities of all sizes will require acknowledging and hiring flexible and adaptive administrative staff.
Another measure is ensuring security risks compliance. According to Beaman (2011), compliance with the HIPAA laws helps at bolstering patient-physician relationships through fostering a culture of trust. For example, unintentional release of the public health information may end up compromising patient-physician bonds. About the electronic medical records during an emergency, the security of technology that is in use at maintaining patient records together with the know-how of the stewards of the same technology are of great importance. Through the HIPAA Security Rule, there is adequate flexibility that allows organizations into creating solutions that can comply with the privacy rule of patient records irrespective of facilities’ size, cost, and the infrastructure parameters. Therefore, administrative entities given the task of maintaining the electronic medical records need to conduct risk assessments that will consider system’s vulnerability towards external intrusion, especially at a time of emergencies.
The third measure for maintaining electronic medical records, especially at times of emergency is upholding effective management strategies. According to Howell et al. (2015), there is the need for the administrators to uphold additional safeguard measures when using the EMR system. These measures would include mitigating security measures that may include going to an extra notch of hiring designated security personnel, which also depends on the size and need of the organization. Another management strategy may include designating authorized entities within the setting of the organization that will be having access to the ePHI or having exclusive access to the EMR software. Another management strategy may entail creating writing policies for and offering training for system usage. Finally, it is possible to maintain electronic medical records at times of emergencies by assessing the system continuously for any potential risks followed by making modification in areas necessary.
Defense of decision to accept health insurance during emergency as potential income source
I consider it effective to accept using health insurance at times of emergencies as a possible source of income in that it is a convenient way for the patients to cater for the medical services that they receive. In such case, the health facility will have less inconvenience caused by delayed payments and extra debts resulting from failure to pay for emergency medical services offered. For example, a patient will be in a health state that requires emergency medical attention, and since he or she has a health insurance, it will be a quick process to offer required medical attention to the patient.
Another reason health insurance is an acceptable source of income for the health facility is that it is possible to know the patient quickly since their medical records and personal details are available in the electronic medical record systems. Take an example of a road car accident whereby the patient is subject to admit to the facility while unconscious and no relative around. Having health insurance documents in his or her possession will help at recognizing the patient fast enough and hence provide emergency treatment required. An emergency might affect the quality of care to the extent of solving imminent medical complications or fuelling the occurrence of other medical complications basing on the quality of care that the patient receives at the health facility. Therefore, good emergency preparation will help enhance the unimpeded operations of the organization.
Conclusion
As discussed above, the paper has been able to identify key issues essential to the provision of emergency medical care to patients at health facilities. Further, the paper has been able to examine existing procedures that relate to the ten essential public health services. The discussion has comprehensively covered the importance of continuous evaluation of patients as stipulated by the EMTALA at times of emergency. Also, the paper has identified three measures applicable to maintaining the electronic medical record systems at times of emergency. It is thus justified to state that regardless of the type of threat, an effective public health response plan needs to have an effective public health system that has robust systems in place for conducting routine public health activities.
References
Beaman, N. (2011). Pearson's comprehensive medical assisting: Administrative and clinical competencies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Clements, B. W. (2009). General Public Health Preparedness. Disasters and Public Health, 1-25. doi:10.1016/b978-1-85617-612-5.00006-8
Howell, R., Singh, H., & Sittig, D. (2015). SAFELY CONFIGURING AND MAINTAINING EHRS AND SYSTEM-TO-SYSTEM INTERFACES. Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience, 209-244. doi:10.1201/b18371-9
Public Health Preparedness. (2006). Health Affairs, 25(4), 934-934. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.25.4.934
Winterbauer, N. L., & Diduk, R. M. (2012). The Ten Essential Public Health Services Model as a Framework for Correctional Health Care. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 19(1), 43-53. doi:10.1177/1078345812458248
