General and Technical Management Support Services

Medical Records

Many techniques are used to improve the efficiency, credibility, accuracy, and usefulness of medical records. Every physician should search constantly for the simplest and most efficient way to compile medical records. A multi-entry computerized lab form for each patient might provide a running tally of CBC, blood chemistry, and urinalysis results on a single page. A computerized patient history form provides instantaneous recall to the provider's desktop, laptop, or handheld computer. If a new remedy is made available for migraine headaches, for example, the provider can query for a list of patients experiencing migraine headaches and decide whether or not the remedy might work for some of those patients. HIPAA and the insurance carriers will demand ever-more capability for practitioners to be able to instantaneously query not only business systems databases but also to provide instant answers from deep inside patients' medical records.

Several years ago Medical Transition Management m.t.m.e. felt that there was no urgency to move to electronic medical records and suggested that groups who were inclined to make the move to EMR should take a look at www.medscape.com/viewarticle/709856 (Electronic Medical Record Survey Results: Medscape Exclusive Readers' Choice: Advice on Choosing an EMR). There will NOT be a universal set of electronic medical record data formats until there is a single-payer system (powers-that-be would have provided the standards to program developers and programmers years ago if they had intended for the insurance companies to be a part of the NEW affordable healthcare system).

Ergonomics

Repetitive work can be quantified by using work measurement techniques, then labor standards can be applied to determine staffing levels and schedules for these types of activities. Medical Transition Management m.t.m.e. has developed extensive work standards for office and clinical applications. Process failure costs are quantified, opportunities for eliminating non-value-added steps or automating parts of the process are identified, and these costs are used to project the impact of improvements and to enable selection of the most cost-effective improvement intervention.

By performing an activity-based cost analysis Medical Transition Management m.t.m.e. can determine the distribution of resources by activity. Data are collected to determine activity costs and the efficiency and effectiveness of the activities being performed. From this information the hospital or physician group can make informed decisions concerning improving services, determining service levels or fee schedules, and reducing costs or eliminating non-value-added services.

Managers may need technical advice on the construction of data collection methods or interpretation of the results. When the cost impact of a proposed solution or scenario is unknown, Medical Transition Management m.t.m.e.helps managers calculate implementation costs and the resulting savings, facilitating the decision-making process.

See www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ergonomics.htmlfor useful information and lots of helpful links on

ergonomics.