Health Information Management Operational Assessment

3. The filing sequence and purging practices vary from institution to institution:
• Some institutions have inefficient, non-standard ways of filing UHRs that
cause departmental inefficiencies
• Purging rules vary
Enforcement of proper policy would result in standard UHR filing and purging
processes.
Once there are effective policies and procedures, then:
• Management becomes easier
• Compliance auditing becomes feasible
• Enforcement of error correction becomes practical
Implication
Without current policies and procedures, it is difficult to:
1. Manage the HIM function
2. Train staff
3. Define and maintain a useable health record
4. Obtain uniform results across the enterprise, particularly in the UHR
5. Leverage experience to improve process
6. Ensure facilities are compliant with regulatory practices
7 Implement continuous process improvement
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