Discussion Post: Joint Commission Survey
The healthcare facility where you work is preparing for a Joint Commission (JC) survey. The facility's administration and compliance committee has identified physicians' timely completion of incomplete health records as a priority area. The facility still uses paper records. Dr. Jones, in particular, is delinquent in completing documentation as well as in authenticating orders and reports. When notified that his delinquent records would be subject to review by the JC survey team, Dr. Jones requested that the HIM staff simply change the dates to indicate the reports were completed in a timely manner and before the delinquent date.
Respond to the questions below in the discussion forum and reply to two other students for full credit.
i. Is there an ethical issue here? If so, describe the issue.
ii. What facts should the HIM Supervisor consider before making a decision?
iii. What are the values of all those involved (Dr. Jones, the HIM staff, the patient, the facility, etc.)?
iv. How might this situation be different if the facility were using electronic health records instead of paper health records?