HSS215 IP1

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Electronic Health Records and the Billing Department
The billing department is very crucial to the hospital operations. Although the primary use of a health service center in to cater for the well-being of the patients, collection, and utilizing resources is paramount to progression in the sector. It allows for the implementation of better services through the purchase of adequate research. In the current healthcare system of the United States, collecting bills is not a simple procedure. The task must cater fro numerous clients with varied payment methods. These methods vary from insurance premiums to cash payment with credit cards or cash systems. There are also various types of clientele. There are those whose bills are catered by institutions to others whose bill is paid by spouses or other third parties. Manual harmonization of such bulk information is challenging. This necessitated the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) to ensure sustained efficiency.
EHR systems in the billing department are for calculating the cost of the services offered as well as connecting the payer and the health records. If the patient has an insurance premium, the billing office will dispatch the patients’ records to the insurer and collect payments. (“Electronic Health Records – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services”, 2016) The Department, therefore, needs a master patient index, encoder, picture archiving and communication, personal health record (PHR) software to function optimally.

Master patient index will be used to fetch specific of the patient. Once a medical service and prescription are offered, the Index can be accessed to collect the harmonized information about the patient. Patient information is very sensitive and highly confidential. Any disclose to unintended parties can lead to potential harm to the patient and facility. Encoding is thus vital to maintaining privacy. Picture archiving and communication can be used to clarify the patient’s details. (“Electronic Health Records – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services”, 2016) The PHR is used to synchronize information to calculate the total sum owed to the facility
The main advantage of EHR is that it reduces error and saves time. It also reduces the cumbersome nature of such ventures. The main disadvantage is that a simple mistake is replicated in all documents and thus potentially enlarged.

Works Cited
Electronic Health Records – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2016). Cms.gov. Retrieved 20 November 2016, from https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/E-Health/EHealthRecords/index.html?redirect=/EhealthRecords/