Medical records clerk Flashcards
What qualities and skills are required for this job?
Accurate and timely data entry
High customer service for both internal and external staff and patients. Creating an environment where people feel safe, respected and cared for
Flexibility in terms of shifts and sites worked
Confidentiality
Carry out all duties in accordance with departmental targets, the Data Protection Act, Public Records Act and the Caldicott Report
How have your previous jobs prepared you for this role?
Calmness under pressure. Dealing with students and parents from all walks of live in a professional and non-judgemental way. Being friendly but maintaining an appropriate professional distance. Knowing when to be firm and polite in a non-confrontational way
Making students feel safe and respected - link to Trust values
Ability to multi-task
Working with student data bases and filing systems
Daily use of Microsoft Office
What does the job involve? (medical records aspect)
To provide healthcare records at the point of need for patients whilst working under pressure with conflicting priorities.
From printed listings or intranet based application, identify location of all healthcare records for emergency admissions, outpatient’s clinics and request / retrieve from relevant library or borrower. Prepare healthcare records for patient attendances in accordance with the procedure for Clinic Preparation
Ensure clinic staff are aware of late arriving healthcare records and the status of healthcare records for late additions to the clinic, obtaining copy documents as required in order to facilitate the smooth running of the clinic.
Sort healthcare records in pre-file areas into terminal digit order in readiness for filing into the various library locations. Ensure all volumes are correctly tracked to the library to facilitate the on-line requesting of healthcare records.
What does the job involve? (Customer service)
Provide and receive routine information to inpatient and outpatient services following an exchange of verbal and written information with a range of patients, staff or carers.
Welcoming visitors in an appropriate manner ensuring security of the department.
To provide professional and timely communication links between patients/ relatives and medical / clinical staff to ensure channels of communication are efficient and effective at all times.
Acting as a first point of contact for enquiries and complaints within the department, dealing with them accordingly and in line with trust policies.
What does the job involve? (Data entry)
Data entry / inputting of information and updating of information using all IT
systems relevant to role.
Use of documents (letters, spread sheets, slides and reports)
Check and amend patient’s demographics to ensure accurate data quality and
to ensure that relevant actions are taken with information being sent to GP’s,
other clinics or areas as appropriate.
Making appointments i.e. via email system
Input of data for research / statistics as appropriate to aid decision-making by
members of professional staff / Managers as supervised by Line Manager
Miscellaneous aspects of the job
Undertaking of filing and photocopying as necessary ensuring all documents
are accurately and appropriately archived
Responsibility for the receipt and distribution of incoming/outgoing post
What are the Trust’s values?
People feel cared for as individuals
People feel safe, reassured and involved
People feel teamwork, trust and respect sit at the heart of everything we do
People feel confident we are making a difference
What is excellent customer service?
Refer back to the Trust’s values and give some examples from teaching:
People feel cared for as individuals
People feel safe, reassured and involved
People feel teamwork, trust and respect sit at the heart of everything we do
People feel confident we are making a difference
Being friendly, professional and patient. Being efficient acting in a timely manner
Attitude is everything being positive, greeting people with a smile or friendly hello. As interaction with a receptionist is often the first and last part of somebody’s visit to the hospital it is important that this is as positive as possible
Being tactful and patient
Demonstrate your ability to multi-task and work under pressure
when faced with several different tasks at once, one has to both be able to prioritise certain tasks and deprioritise others. The tasks that get prioritised are the ones where there is an impending deadline. If parents’ evening is this evening,
What identity checks should you carry out in order to protect personal data?
Follow the Trust’s procedures
A common way to check the ID of someone is to ask them about details on their record that only they are likely to know or to provide clients with a secure password
Who is allowed access to someone’s personal data
If in doubt don’t give it out
How would you protect the confidentiality of paper records?
Don’t leave paper copies of personal data lying around
Consider using pseudonyms in reports and printouts to make them more secure from casual onlookers
Dispose of paper based records securely. Don’t use a normal waste bin
If you’re printing from a computer avoid using people’s names or other identifiers in the file names. That’s because printer logs will show who the files were about
How would you protect digital copies?
Don’t use memory sticks or other external devices
Ensure that all the important data you rely on is backed up
Take care when using cloud based services
Chose a password that is difficult to guess but easy to remember and change it regularly
Use different passwords for different systems
Watch out for people walking past you when you’re using your computer
Who is allowed access to someone’s personal data
The data subject themselves
A parent of the subject if they are a young child
A person who has explicit permission from the data subject
How is patient care supported by data protection?
Good information underpins good care. Patients safety is supported when the confidentiality of personal information is maintained, its integrity is protected against loss or damage and the information is accessible by those who are authorised.
*Link this to the importance the Trust attaches to people feeling safe and cared for
Everybody that uses the NHS should be able to trust that their personal confidential information is protected. People should be assured that the persons involved in their care and in running and improving services are using such information appropriately and only when absolutely necessary.
What 3 areas can data security be broken down into?
Confidentiality = privacy and ensuring information is only accessible to those with a proven record to see it
Integrity = stored information in a data base being consistent and unmodified
Availability = accesible information being there when it is needed to support care
How do you lock a PC
Press the Win+L key combination on the computer keyboard (Win is the Windows key, shown in this figure).
How to send an email without showing addresses?
by entering a list of email addresses in the “Bcc” or “Blind Carbon Copy” field.
How would you deal with a stressed or angry patient?
Most people are very understanding when you apologize and explain what is going on or why the wait is taking so long.
How to deal with a difficult patient
First and foremost - listen. Do not try to talk over the customer or argue with them. …
Build rapport through empathy. … remember that they may be upset because of the stress they are feeling
Lower your voice. …
Assume all your customers are watching. …
Know when to give in. …
Never get angry or upset. …
Never take it personally. …
Remember that you’re interacting with a human.
What phrases do you use, or might you use in future when a patient is crying? Examples:
Take your time
I’m sorry this is so painful for you
You let it all out. It’s best to have a good old cry
It’s OK. Have a tissue.
It’s not surprising that you find talking about this so distressing.
What would you find helpful right now?
What is your greatest weakness?
Perfectionism - overcome by thinking more systematically about opportunity costs
also link opportunity costs to multitasking and prioritising
Biggest strength?
Tailoring my communication to the audience. As a teacher I would plan my explanations carefully making sure that abstract ideas were linked to concrete examples etc
Attention to detail - extremely thorough in terms of my preparation.
How to multi task and cope with competing demands?
Having a good time management strategy reduces stress and increases productivity. The Eisenhower matrix supported me in prioritising tasks. Identifying whether tasks are urgent/not urgent , important/not important
Urgent/Important = do first
Less urgent/important = schedule, list things you need to put in your calendar here
Urgent/Less important = do second or delegate
Less urgent/Less important = things that don’t need doing
Demonstrate your adaptability
Everything in education is seemingly in a safe of flux!
Adaptability was key in the classroom e.g. having to adapt your explanation if students had not been understood (also important in a customer facing role) Also in relation to IT systems such as Proachieve - a student management system, changes to VLE.
