Public health preparedness is an essential aspect in dealing with urgent issues at the hospital or in any healthcare facilities. The wellbeing of patients or people in general is associated with the provision of therapeutic needs, which guarantee quality help to patients and security. This must be done without considering sexual orientation or any similar issues with patients. It is therefore, important to have essential procedure to address threats such as terrorism or others within the hospitals to guarantee safety of all patients at the hospitals. This paper therefore, is looking at the methodology, which are very significant to the association to the connection with measures, which should be taken to ensure that safety of patients is guaranteed. It analyses the effects, which these procedures will have to the healthcare facilities during emergency.
Task 1: Examine the existing procedures related to at least four (4) of the ten (10) essential public health services. Focus on the principal effects that these procedures will have on your hospital during the emergency.
There are five principles methodology, which the hospital does, which are associated with the fundamental well being of patients. These methodologies are used to make decision regarding the element of security of every patient at the hospitals both inpatients and outpatients anytime there is a crisis at the hospital. The first methodology, which should be applied, is social order. It is therefore, important to have social order at the hospital to help in addressing any emergency CITATION May06 \l 1033 (Mayberry, Nicewander, Huanying, & Ballard, 2006). Social orders mean that there is relationship between patients and medical practitioners at the hospitals and also an elaborate structure of what should be done when such an emergency occurs. Public health preparedness is the mindfulness on people at hospital to join in help to go out to identify approaching risks in medical. The doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners should have the capacity to conform that they are capable to help patients when there is imminent risk.
Secondly, the doctors must also commit that patient to be attended to and treated faster to save lives. However, the treated should be faster to ensure that less congestion is created at the hospitals. This strategy is identified with the aspect of ensuring that the well being of patients are given priority. It is also accessing the adequacy, openness and the natural of populated and personal well being. As stated by Sena (2015) the strategy is meant to assist the hospital in managing the crisis in a way that will minimize risk and ensure that the situation does not explode beyond control. In case of terrorist activities at the hospital, the hospital has well equipped isolation center, which can be used to separate patients and also administer adequate treatment. At the isolation center, therapeutic services are offered and other medical services to limit the crisis and risk, which involved.
However, the management of the hospital has adopted the ten essential public health services and the most crucial are monitoring, enforce laws and regulations, which ensure public safety and hazard prevention of diseases or any outbreak CITATION Zua16 \l 1033 (Zuabi, Weiss, & Langdorf, 2016). In order to ensure that patients are provided with needed treated, the hospital require all doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners dealing with emergency cases to report to the duties. This is to ensure that the hospital has enough needed staffs to handle all emergencies. In case, of terrorist attack in the United States, medical staffs are required to report to duty as well.
Task 2: Specify the importance of continuing to evaluate patients, as stipulated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), during the emergency.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) were created in 1986 to ensure that patients receive treatment without any bias or failure during emergency season. The hospital should have continuous screening of patients to ensure that all patients who need medical attention are provided without any failure. Continuing evaluation of patients is important because it ensures that the ability of patients to pay is determined, the health status of every patient is known. This assist in the provision of medical services to patients since it ensue that patients who are in serious condition obtain medical attention first. It also helps the hospital to prevent any major casualties from occurring since, by establishing the need of every patients and the hospital would be able to provide the needed medical services to patients.
Task 3: Detail three (3) measures that you would use in order to maintain the electronic medical record system during the emergency.
In order maintain electronic medical record system even during emergency, there are several things, which need to be done. First measures would be to understand how the system operates by establishing who is accessing, and writing the records. It is also important to establish the security protocol, which involve login and out of the system and apply strict measures to avoid access to the system in case of emergency. According to (), the security of the hospital ICT system is essential in preventing the attack or minimizing the damages when terrorist attack happen. This includes limiting and monitoring people entering or working out of the hospitals. Therefore, the system should have automatic time out after a specific time of inactivity. The system should also have advanced requirement in login and access to the specific areas of the hospital to limit the use and the access of some areas of the hospitals. The clinicians may also have the power or the authority to override automatic time out, when there is an urgent need to enter certain entry during the day. It may sound reasonable; the clinicians at the hospitals should have the right to make changes of particular records. The data should have automatic lock to prevent any outside access or unauthorized access to the vital data at the time of emergency. The automatic lock ensures that only senior clinicians and the ICT manager would give access and therefore, this would ensure that the hospital data or the system is protected during the emergency. Since during emergency, the security of the hospital is the main issue and each department is required to play a critical role. In case of terrorist attack, the hospitals doors and other importance entrance to the building should have automatic override. This to limit the number of people entering the hospitals and making sure that at such risky hours, the chances of internal attack is limited.
However, other measures include establishing personal and practice policies against entry into the system. As stated by Mohammad (2014), there is a lot of recklessness and scrupulous when it comes to reading messages, which most time put the system at risk. It would be important to ensure that nobody is subscribe to any messages, because it is one of tricks being used by hackers to access the system. In order to keep the system secure, it would be important to remove anything which could generate messages to secure the healthcare data. It is also to makes sure that the health care records doing not generate any message unless it is an error message. And when it is an error message the IT team should solve it immediately to ensure that there is suspicious activity into the system. It is also important to get familiarized with tracking features of the electronic data or records is also one of the measures, which can help in limiting risk and it is important to take in case there is emergency CITATION May06 \l 1033 (Mayberry, Nicewander, Huanying, & Ballard, 2006). However, the ability to make quick and appropriate decision is very crucial during emergency and this should include securing data, apply ICT protocol in accessing or entry into the system. It would help the hospital to avoid wasting a lot of time to figure out whether there is a problem with the system at a time when swift action is required.
Task 4: Defend your position on the decision to accept health insurance during the emergency as a potential source of income for the facility. Provide support with at least three (3) examples that illustrate your position.
As the Vice President of the organization, there are several specific responsibilities, which depend on the requirement of healthcare facility. The Vice President has the responsibilities to communicate and implement the organizations’ mission and vision. He or she provides leadership, guiding, creating and evaluating the work of other executive in the organization CITATION Zua16 \l 1033 (Zuabi, Weiss, & Langdorf, 2016). However, the decision to accept the healthcare insurance during emergency as one of the sources of income for the organization is also considered to be very significant. First, it is the responsibility of the vice president to ensure that all patients get the help they need from the hospital and without finances; it would be difficult for the hospital to offer the medical need patients require during emergency. Accepting health insurance ensures that the organization is able to offer services to patients. Therefore, accepting insurance ensures that patients can obtain the medical attention they need and therefore, it is a key responsibility of the vice president.
Secondly, having enough cash at the hospital would facilitate the operations of the hospital during the emergency. The insurance coverage is good and it will make sure that any damages whether property of any other things are fully covered and therefore, the hospital would be able to continue operating even after a major crisis. This is because the insurance company usually pays for any insured damages and therefore, as a vice president of the hospital, accepts health insurance and any other insurance during the time emergency is an important responsibility. Without enough cash the hospital could be caught in an awkward situation and therefore, it would not be able to meet its objectives. It therefore, means that accepting healthcare insurance cover is important for the organization during emergency.
Task 5: Analyze the extent to which this emergency might affect the quality of care provided to the patients and the unimpeded operation of the organization.
The quality of healthcare is associated with the patient’s satisfactory and profitability CITATION Moh14 \l 1033 (Mohammad, 2014). During emergency, most healthcare facilities such as hospitals offer medical services to many patients during emergency and under strict condition with limited resources. The hospital is required to provide services to many patients with limited nurses, doctors and physicians. It affects the quality since the hospital would not be able to meet the demand of all patients. Some of the tests required to be done would not happen because of congestion and therefore, this would affect the quality of services. The patients will not be properly assigned to relevant doctors and the transfer will also be initiated at every point of treatment. This would therefore, affect the services being offered and most client would be satisfied.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Mayberry, R. M., Nicewander, D., Huanying, Q., & Ballard, D. (2006). Improving quality and reducing inequities: a challenge in achieving best care. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1426185/ , 2-35.
Mohammad, A. (2014). Factors Affecting Medical Service Quality. Journal of Public Health , 12 (5), 2-18.
Sena, L. (2015). Hospital disaster emergency preparedness. Emergency Risk Management for Health , 2-18.
Zuabi, N., Weiss, ,. L., & Langdorf, M. (2016). Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) 2002-15:. Review of Office of Inspector General Patient Dumping Settlements , 12-39.
