Ashworth College Medical Office Management Questions
other tutor made me fail at my essay so please do this right in APA format everything needs to be in your own words. i am not paying alot for this i already pay once to do it and i failed soo not paying a lot.Text Readings Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting, Chapter 20 Additional Readings Required Readings Management Styles: Leadership vs. Firefighting Top 6 Ways to Get an Angry Customer to Back Down Lecture Notes Imagine walking into a physician’s office where no one is working the reception area. You walk into the waiting room, and there are no seats to wait in, and you have no idea what’s going on—phones are ringing and people are running around everywhere. Everything is complete chaos! This doesn’t sound like a business anyone would want to work for or visit as a patient or customer, right? For a healthcare office to run smoothly, many different parts must work together to meet a common goal. For all the interrelated parts to work together smoothly, policies and procedures need to be in place that not only tell employees their roles, but also tell the entire staff how the business works as a whole. Good office managers are organized leaders who know how to rally a team. This includes eliciting feedback and allowing staff to be part of decision-making processes, delegating tasks, and effectively planning meetings that accomplish goals. Medical office managers are also often responsible for marketing the services provided by the physician office or other facility. Today, marketing isn’t just about sending postcards with information about the office. With technology playing an increasingly important role in our lives, marketing the business also involves knowledge of websites, social media, and online newsletters and announcements. Office managers play an important role in the healthcare provider’s office. They’re master multitaskers who Plan activities Delegate tasks Manage and train employees Ensure that the office is meeting the required rules, regulations, and laws Understand each duty and role in the office Purchase and track supplies Supervise billing and payroll Good office managers require excellent interpersonal, administrative, communication, and time management skills. Office managers will often use resources such as personnel policy manuals, office procedure manuals, and patient information pamphlets to ensure their success. These resources can help to Keep everyone on task for reaching the same goals Clarify expectations Reduce training time Protect the office in the case of legal issues Office Manager Resources As you can imagine, it’s impossible to remember all of the information needed to help run an office. Because of this, it’s not uncommon for office managers to have regular documentation to which they refer when questions or issues arise. A personnel policy manual is a kind of “rule book” that explains what employees can expect when working at the office and what duties are required of them. Personnel policy manuals should include A welcome message that explains basic information about the office A nondiscrimination policy An anti-harassment policy Information on benefits and leave Expected workplace conduct Privacy policies and procedures The office should also keep on file authentication that the employees have reviewed the manual and understand the contents. At a minimum, an office procedures manual outlines the Office’s mission Specific duties of each staff position Hierarchy of positions Privacy requirements Patient education is important in a healthcare setting because it helps patients understand their rights and also what happens with their health care in a specific office. The patient information pamphlet should include What the patient needs to know with regard to his or her disease and treatment Privacy and confidentiality information Rights as a patient Contact information for the office Many physician offices will create educational pamphlets or leaflets on the most common diseases or treatments that they handle in their office. For example, a cardiologist may have pamphlets on different types of heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and more. Systems Approach A systems approach to office management concentrates on how all of the different sections depend on each other and work together in an office. Although each section, or department, operates independently, all the processes must work together as a whole to create a successful business. A systems approach isn’t limited to one office. A systems approach can be used between offices, providers, vendors, and more to create one system to treat a patient. Planning and Meetings Planning and meetings are an important part of any business, including physician offices. Planning and meeting help keep the office running smoothly and everyone on the same page. Each month, an office manager should start planning for the next month. This includes schedules, meetings, conferences, seminars, vacation time, and more. By planning one month in advance, the office manager can make sure that any absences by key staff and physicians will be covered. One of the most important things to remember is that meetings should be planned and organized to ensure that staff time isn’t being wasted. Some offices will have weekly staff meetings, whereas others may prefer to have them monthly. Important elements to remember for staff meetings include Starting and ending on time Distributing an agenda and allowing staff members to add agenda items prior to the meeting Checking in with each staff member and allowing all staff members to speak Summarizing decisions and goals for the week/month Letting staff know of any vacations or time that physicians and staff be out of the office Providing meeting minutes immediately Leadership Styles Leadership styles are how managers and others direct and motivate people to perform a task. Although the terms manager and leader are often used interchangeably, they’re technically very different. Managers help facilitate the staff to perform their roles; leaders motivate based on their strengths. Leaders can be anyone on the team—the manager or an employee who has a particular expertise or the motivation to see a great idea to fruition. Some people have natural leadership styles, whereas others build and work on leadership styles that they feel work best with their team. As you can imagine, certain leadership styles aren’t always effective. There are many different leadership styles, but for this course we’re going to focus on four: authoritarian, democratic, permissive, and bureaucratic. Authoritarian: This style is one of the most restrictive because all decisions are made by the leader or manager with little input from the team. This is a great style when big decisions need to be made quickly. However, this style often alienates staff and, if used regularly, can create an unappealing work environment. Authoritarian leaders are often described as “bossy.” Democratic: This is an effective leadership style that allows staff to participate in the decision-making process. Staff being led by this leadership style often show higher job satisfaction because they feel like they’re being heard and have a vested interest in the business. However, a con of this style can be that it takes a long time for the group to make decisions. Permissive: Permissive leaders give the group the ability to make the decisions and also to implement the decisions. This is an extremely flexible leadership style that gives staff the ability to be creative. However, those who don’t work well without constant direction may find this leadership style frustrating. Bureaucratic: Bureaucratic leaders lead by following a strict set of standards and protocol. These leaders prefer ordered, precise decisions and steps to accomplish a goal. Bureaucratic leaders are helpful in some healthcare situations where a specific set of regulations and protocols must be followed to keep everyone safe. Staff members who aren’t detail oriented and don’t like to follow specific steps to accomplish work may be less successful in this environment. Marketing in Health Care By now in this lesson, you’re probably thinking of physician offices and healthcare facilities as more of a business than you did before. Remember, patient care is always the top priority. However, if the business side isn’t running as it should, then it will be difficult for the provider to provide quality health care to patients. Part of what makes the business side of health care run is marketing and customer service. Today, physician offices and other healthcare providers need to implement effective marketing plans. It may be surprising to hear that a physician office needs to market its services. However, it’s important for healthcare providers to reach their target audience to bring in a steady stream of new patients. When people think about marketing, they often think of commercials or billboard advertisements. However, effective marketing also includes Websites Training Brochures Mailings Open houses Participation in health fairs Social media such as Facebook and Twitter Customer Service in Health Care Customer service is a huge part of the healthcare industry. Because healthcare workers often deal with patients who are sick or uncomfortable, customer service is even more important than it is in other industries. Customer service is different in health care because these “customers” generally didn’t choose to be there. Unlike other businesses and services, people are using the healthcare services because they must. Therefore, providing superior customer service will help make the patient more at ease. Great customer service can include Front-desk employees who don’t seem irritated to be interrupted Easy and convenient parking Providing information when patients are kept waiting longer than expected Good directional signage Staff who are proactive when they see confused patients and visitors Using nonverbal cues to ensure the patients know they’re important Assignment 8 H01 Medical Office Management 1 Directions: Be sure to save an electronic copy of your answer before submitting it to Ashworth College for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English, spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four (4) double-spaced pages; refer to the "Assignment Format" page located on the Course Home page for specific format requirements. In Lessons 5 through 8, you learned about the administrative requirements of medical assistants. You learned about patient reception, appointment scheduling, office technology, correspondence, medical records, billing and collections, medical insurance, medical claims and coding, and office management duties. For this written assignment, the concepts learned from Lessons 5–8 will be applied. Please review the learning objectives for Lessons 5–8 prior to beginning work on this assignment. Complete Parts A, B, C, and D for this assignment. Part A:A pharmaceutical representative has just arrived at the office of Dr. Joseph Henderson, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. The waiting room is swarming with patients waiting to see Dr. Henderson, because he was delayed with an unexpectedly complicated lumbar spinal fusion and laminectomy. The representative is very insistent, almost belligerent, about seeing the physician immediately, even though she did not have an appointment to see him. In fact, the visit was totally unexpected, as the representative had just been in two weeks ago. Last time the representative was in, she gave Dr. Henderson a variety of readily usable and dispensable medications. She has more of the same today—injectable cortisone with Novocain, muscle relaxants, NSAIDs, and even some Tylenol with codeine. Usually, Dr. Henderson is quite receptive to receiving these samples, as they help ease the financial burden on his patients for whom he uses or to whom he dispenses these samples. The office is, in fact, running quite low on these particular medications because of Dr. Henderson’s heavy patient load. Provide detailed answers for each of the following questions. Your response should be at least 150 words in length. What is your response to the sales representative?Should a sales representative ever take precedence over scheduled appointments?Does the fact that Dr. Henderson is usually quite anxious to receive any and all samples for his patients enter in as a factor?Does the diminished supply of these samples alter the situation?Can the medical assistant ever accept delivery of any or all of these samples? Part B:Dr. Jonas runs a private practice. He admits patients and makes rounds in two local hospitals. He uses one type of EHR software in his private office and two other packages in the two hospitals. Not only must Dr. Jonas learn three software systems, but he also may at times be unable to move patient information between those systems because of incompatibility. What might Dr. Jonas do to address these issues? Your response should be at least 100 words in length. Part C:Lisa Medina, a certified coder, performs medical coding for a large multi-specialty clinic. You have just been hired as Lisa’s assistant. She has asked you to review the encounter forms for the day, on which physicians have checked off the diagnoses of each patient. You notice that Dr. Parker, an endocrinologist, has checked off the box for Diabetes unspecified for most of his patients without checking off any manifestations or complications. You think this is unusual because many diabetic patients do have complications. Provide detailed answers for each of the following questions. Your response should at least 150 words in length. What are the options for handling this situation?Which option would you select? Give three reasons for your choice.With whom should you consult before acting on your choice?Given the situation, as the office manager, what should Sarah do immediately regarding Nell?If Sarah decides to send Nell home, should she call Nell’s husband to come and get her, or, perhaps, insist that Nell go home in a cab?Does Sarah have an obligation to tell Dr. Williams about her suspicions regarding Nell?Should this incident become part of Nell’s employment record?Is this incident grounds for firing an employee?Because Nell is a CMA (AAMA) and works with patients, is it within Sarah’s rights to demand a blood and urine screening for alcohol and drugs?Should the police be notified of the incident?If Nell is indeed intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol, is Sarah obligated to refer Nell to counseling at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility? Part D:Sarah Egan is the office manager in Dr. Williams’s practice. Nell Jacobs, who has worked as a CMA (AAMA) in the office for one year, has frequently been absent or tardy on Mondays. Sarah suspects that Nell has a drinking problem. However, Nell has never arrived at the office intoxicated—until today. Sarah has just observed Nell stumbling in the parking lot when getting out of her car. Her speech is slurred, and her breath has a fruity odor that Sarah thinks could be alcohol. Nell does not appear to understand anything that Sarah is saying to her. Provide detailed answers for each of the following questions. Your response should at least 250 words in length. Grading Rubric Please refer to the rubric on the next page for the grading criteria for this assignment. Criteria Exemplary Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Unacceptable Part A: Pharmaceutical Representative 20 points Student provides a clear, logical discussion of the way a medical assistant should respond to a drug sales representative who visits a busy waiting room without an appointment. 15 points Student provides a mostly clear, logical discussion of the way a medical assistant should respond to a drug sales representative who visits a busy waiting room without an appointment. 10 points Student provides a partially clear, logical discussion of the way a medical assistant should respond to a drug sales representative who visits a busy waiting room without an appointment. 5 points Student provides a weak or unclear discussion of the way a medical assistant should respond to a drug sales representative who visits a busy waiting room without an appointment. 0 points Response does not meet any of the specified criteria. / 20 Part B: EHR Software Incompatibility 15 points Student provides a clear, logical description of a possible EHR systems integration solution for multiple healthcare facilities. 12 points Student provides a mostly clear, logical description of a possible EHR systems integration solution for multiple healthcare facilities. 8 points Student provides a partially clear, logical description of a possible EHR systems integration solution for multiple healthcare facilities. 5 points Student provides a weak or unclear description of a possible EHR systems integration solution for multiple healthcare facilities. 0 points Response does not meet any of the specified criteria. / 15 Part C: Fraudulent Billing Practices 20 points Student provides a clear, logical description of the options for handling a potential fraudulent coding and billing situation within a healthcare facility. 15 points Student provides a mostly clear, logical description of the options for handling a potential fraudulent coding and billing situation within a healthcare facility. 10 points Student provides a partially clear, logical description of the options for handling a potential fraudulent coding and billing situation within a healthcare facility. 5 points Student provides a weak or unclear description of the options for handling a potential fraudulent coding and billing situation within a healthcare facility. 0 points Response does not meet any of the specified criteria. / 20 Part D: Medical Office Personnel Issue 25 points Student provides a clear, logical discussion of the way a medical office manager should handle a situation in which an employee appears intoxicated. 18 points Student provides a mostly clear, logical discussion of the way a medical office manager should handle a situation in which an employee appears intoxicated. 10 points Student provides a partially clear, logical discussion of the way a medical office manager should handle a situation in which an employee appears intoxicated. 5 points Student provides a weak or unclear discussion of the way a medical office manager should handle a situation in which an employee appears intoxicated. 0 points Response does not meet any of the specified criteria. / 25 Mechanics 10 points Student does not make any errors in grammar or spelling, especially those that distract the reader from the content. 8 points Student makes 1-2 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. 5 points Student makes 3-4 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. 2 points Student makes more than 4 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. 0 points Response does not meet any of the specified criteria. / 10 Format - APA Format, Citations, Organization, Transitions 10 points The paper is written in proper APA and organizational format. All sources used for quotes and facts are credible and cited correctly. Excellent organization, including a variety of thoughtful transitions. 8 points The paper is written in proper format with only 1-2 errors. All sources used for quotes and facts are credible, and most are cited correctly. Adequate organization includes a variety of appropriate transitions. 5 points The paper is written in proper format with only 3-5 errors. Most sources used for quotes and facts are credible and cited correctly. Essay is poorly organized, but may include a few effective transitions. 2 points The paper is not written in proper format. Many sources used for quotes and facts are less than credible (suspect) and/or are not cited correctly. Essay is disorganized and does not include effective transitions. 0 points Response does not meet any of the specified criteria.