It is crucial that medical records are maintained with great accuracy. They are of interest to various parties including patients and health care organizations including assisted living facilities. Records are also of interest to government bodies including tax authorities and bodies involved with health care planning and provision of services.
Different states, similar standards
Different states have their own regulations as to how medical records should be maintained. However, there are some standards that are common when it comes to those that are kept by assisted living facilities.
One standard that is upheld in most states is digital record keeping. This is emphasized to ensure that records can be pulled immediately when required. This is in comparison to maintaining records only on paper files which can be damaged due to disasters like fires and floods. It is also required that records are backed up in case they are lost due to technical faults or natural disasters. There are software packages that are custom made for health care providers that simplify this.
Confidentiality is another common standard. Medical records are private and health care providers and assisted living facilities are required to ensure this by maintaining them in systems that are protected from unauthorized parties. This is done by with passwords, firewall barriers and other means that keep medical records private.
It is also important that records are linked to care partners such as insurance companies and organizations such as Medicaid. This ensures that an organization can look at insurance records of patients and make decisions that need to be made on medication, medical services options and other decisions that need to be made.
Itemized bills are another common requirement in most states. This standard ensures that patients get itemized bills for the services and products such as medication so that it is clear what they are paying for and how much they are paying for it.
There are also standards required of those who handle medical records. For the sake of accuracy and confidentiality, records are required to be maintained by personnel who are trained in doing so. Different states have their own requirements for health care providers including those who maintain medical records.
Assisted living facilities are classified together with health care facilities. It is therefore important that accurate records are maintained. They are a very important point of reference for all the parties involved in the chain of providing care.
