State insurance commissions protect consumers in the area of health insurance. For example, many states set up ombudsman offices to provide information on managed care. Locate the organization in your state that provides health insurance help, or visit http://www.omc.state.ct.us to explore the state’s information.
Both the Computer-based Patient Record Institute (CPRI) and the Medical Record Institute promote the development of the electronic (computer-based) medical record. Go to http://www.cpri.org/
and http://www.medrecinst.com, and research the present status of electronic medical records in the United States. From your reading, explain how electronic records can improve patient care.
Visit the website of the American Medical Association at http://www.ama-assn.org. Do a site search for medical records, and report on the summary findings of a recent study on this subject.
Visit the website of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to research the current status of HIPAA National Identifiers. Determine whether standards have been adopted for health plan or patient identifiers.
