Documentation Flashcards
Written records that reflect on the clients care.
A written evidence on:
● Interactions between health practitioner
● Administration of tests, procedures and education.
● Results of clients response to treatment
Documentation
Principles of Documentation (ACTLCOO)
Accuracy
Completeness
Timeliness
Legibility
Consiceness
Objectivity
Organization
“What do you want to do?”
Specific
“How will you know when you’ve reached it?”
Measurable
“Is it in your power to accomplish it?”
Achievable
“Can you realistically achieve it?”
Realistic
When exactly do you want to accomplish it?”
Timely
● The record serves as the vehicle by which different health professionals who interact with a client communicate with each other. This prevents fragmentation, repetition, and delays in client care.
Communication
● Each health professional uses data from the client’s record to plan care for that client. A primary care provider, for example, may order a specific antibiotic after establishing that the client’s temperature is steadily rising and that laboratory tests reveal the presence of a certain microorganism. Nurses use baseline and ongoing data to evaluate the effectiveness of the nursing care plan.
Planning Client Care
● An audit is a review of client records for quality assurance purposes.
Auditing Health Agencies
● Accrediting agencies such as The Joint Commission may review client records to determine if a particular health agency is meeting its stated standards.
Auditing Health Agencies
● The information contained in a record can be a valuable source of data for research.
Research
● The treatment plans for a number of clients with the same health problems can yield information helpful in treating other clients.
Research
● Students in health disciplines often use client records as educational tools. A record can frequently provide a comprehensive view of the client, the illness, effective treatment strategies, and factors that affect the outcome of the illness.
Education
● Documentation also helps a facility receive reimbursement from the federal government.
● For a facility to obtain payment through Medicare, the client’s clinical record must contain the correct diagnosis-related group (DRG) codes and reveal that the appropriate care has been given
Reimbursement
● The client’s record is a legal document and is usually admissible in court as evidence.
● In some jurisdictions, however, the record is considered inadmissible as evidence when the client objects, because information the client gives to the primary care provider is confidential.
Legal Documentation
● Information from records may assist health care planners to identify agency needs, such as overutilized and underutilized hospital services. Records can be used to establish the costs of various services and to identify those services that cost the agency money and those that generate revenue.
Healthcare Analysis
● Document the date and time of each recording. This is essential not only for legal reasons but also for client safety.
● Record the time in the conventional manner (c. g- 9.00 AM or 3:15 PM) or according to the 24-hour clock (military clock), which avoids confusion about whether a time was AM or PM
Date and Time
● Follow the agency’s policy about the frequency of documenting, and adjust the frequency as a client’s condition indicates; for example a client whose blood pressure is changing requires more frequent documentation than a client whose blood pressure is constant. As a rule, documenting should be done as soon as possible after an assessment or intervention. No recording should be done before providing nursing care.
Timing
● All entries must be legible and easy to read to prevent interpretation errors. Hand printing or easily understood handwriting is usually permissible. Follow the agency’s policies about handwritten recording
Legibility
● All entries on the client’s record are made in dark ink so that the record is permanent and changes can be identified. Dark ink reproduces well on microfilm and in duplication processes. Follow the agency’s policies about the type of pen and ink used for recording.
Permanence
- Abbreviations are used because they are short, convenient, and easy to use.
- The most common problems include ambiguity, unfamiliar abbreviations, and look-alike abbreviations.
Accepted Terminology
- It is important to use only commonly accepted abbreviations, symbols, and terms that are specified by the agency.
Accepted Terminology
● Correct spelling is essential for accuracy in recording. If unsure how to spell word, look it up in a dictionary or other resource book,
Correct Spelling