AMU WK 2 Legal Uses of Healthcare Records & Healthcare Plans

Respond back to all 4 responses:

1. The health record can be the most important part of discovery in a malpractice lawsuit. The information that is contained in the health record is what can determine how a malpractice lawsuit may go in favor of the defendant or the plaintiff. During the litigation in a malpractice lawsuit, all aspects of the health record would come under scrutiny; from the information that was annotated in it, to what may be missing or may have been missed.

The information contained in the medical record may be as important as any information that may be missing. In these cases, the notes taken, and the information filled into the record are of vital importance for both sides of litigation. While silent reporting (when a medical professional hands-off medical reports orally without annotating) has been used for years in the medical field, the law community will see it as, “if it’s not recorded, it wasn’t done.”

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Note-taking has become an essential tool, not only for litigation purposes but to ensure patient safety and well-being. When you take into consideration that in 2015, of the 7,149 malpractice cases that were analyzed, more than half (57%) were due to miscommunication. (Hoffman, 2016).

2.This week were asked what some legal uses of health records were. There are a few different reasons you would use health records for what they are intended for. They can be used to help with treatment and coordination of the care. Especially now a days when you do not always have the luxury of seeing the same doctor every time you go into the office. At least that is how it is with military medicine. They can provide proof of care as well as who took care of the individual. Hopefully anyone who has anything to do with the plan is in the records somewhere. It can be used to determine what the cause of death if there was one. Another reason of a legal use of a health record is if it needs to be used in a legal issue. There are of course certain exemptions and certain information that may or may not be used in the case. If the provider or anyone who had a hand in the care plan is to be held accountable for whatever mishap happened, then one would think of using it. Sometimes it can be used if there is alcohol content in bloodwork that needs to be determined. It can also be used as a business record for providers.

3.Voluntary health insurance plans refer to health plans that offer employees additional healthcare coverage and benefits and require decreased payment rates. The employee might decide to empress the voluntary health insurance plans or not, depending on the workplace policies and strategies. One of the major trends related to VHI is the Covid-19 pandemic (Wagstaff & Neelsen, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic has taught employers and employees many lessons concerning providing and accessing quality healthcare services. The pandemic proved to many that they needed to have additional health insurance plans to cater for unpreceded health complications that the normal health care insurance programs might not be able to cover. The pandemic came along with increased responsibilities, for instance, caregiving to older persons and children, which had to be done remotely (Erlangga et al., 2019). The families affected had to pay for the extra services from their pockets. However, if they had additional health plans to cover unseen emergencies, the voluntary health insurance plans would have catered for extra services.
Another trend related to voluntary healthcare insurance plans is increased financial wellness support (Wagstaff & Neelsen, 2020). Financial stability and support have been the major consideration for any attempt to provide healthcare services to patients. In order to access high-quality services, patients must have reliable healthcare insurance programs or the ability to pay from their pockets. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought out the true meaning of financial incapability to the people. Another issue likely to lead to financial constraints is retirement, which deprives employees of the right to access particular healthcare services (Erlangga et al., 2019). Therefore, the voluntary healthcare insurance plans would be beneficial because they would cover the services that normal insurance programs do not cover, such as vision coverage, disability coverage, and dental health coverage. 4.The Center for Disease Control hasn’t seen anything like the corona virus before and has honestly fell short of controlling the situation. COVID-19 came out of nowhere and it spread fast like wildfire. This created a greater demand for health care insurance in general. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of companies have expanded the voluntary coverage that is offered to employees. By expanding the benefit options, workers are now given the option to pay more for certain benefits. Healthcare resembles other goods and services which supply, and demand play a key role. The expanding of voluntary healthcare insurance plans was a significant trend that also helped individuals and families who needed telehealth support throughout the pandemic.

Reducing the barriers for care following the uncertain return to normal flow for hospitals and clinics was a significant trend as well. “Medicare payment for a respiratory system diagnosis with ventilator support for greater than 96 hours, which was $40,218,” (Lopez). Insurance companies waiving cost sharing during a pandemic saved workers a lot of money. Healthcare insurance companies made many changes and adjustments for COVID-19.