HSA 4817 Health Practicum

Part 1

in this report you should identify the project goals and objectives that were attempted, what resulted from your decisions, clarify any limitations, discuss personal impressions, and include recommendations related to the project. Include data in tables, figures, charts or a matrix. Also, include any written research instruments that you have developed or used, such as surveys, questionnaires, interview schedules, observational procedures to name a few. Writing skills will be eval

part 2

Academic Service-Learning

Ramchal: Academic-Service-Learning Paper
Seaview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
Academic Service Learning
Tiffany Ramchal
Florida Atlantic University
HSA4817-001
November 7, 2021
Preceptor:
Theresa Young, Medical Records Coordinator
Professor:
Dr. Dennis Palkon, Professor
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Ramchal: Academic-Service-Learning Paper
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In order to complete the Health Administration program, students must complete the
Health Practicum Course. To complete my practicum, I was doing a mentorship/internship with
the Medical Records Coordinator at the nursing home facility where I work. This facility is
Seaview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which is located in Pompano Beach, Florida. The
facility is an 83-bed facility that provides many services, like occupation, speech, and physical
therapies, 24-hour skilled nursing care, long-term care, short-term rehabilitation care, and
Alzheimer’s and dementia care. Seaview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is currently owned
and operated by Consulate Healthcare but will be part of Nspire Healthcare when 2022 starts.
As I was completing the practicum, I was working in Medical Records every Wednesday
and Thursday and working as the Front Desk Receptionist on the weekends. The
mentorship/internship was set up by supervisor and the executive director at the time. My
supervisor was the Business Office Manager, and she was trying to find the best department that
would allow me to learn the most. She figured that medical records would be the best place for
me and discussed it with the Medical Records Coordinator. The Medical Records Coordinator is
Theresa Young, and she later became my preceptor. 100% of my time for the practicum was
spent in medical records working under the supervision of the Medical Records Coordinator.
When the practicum first started, Ms. Young and I brainstormed about what the project
for the practicum should be. While brainstorming, she did assign different tasks for me to, which
were tasks that she would do on a daily basis. These tasks were filing resident health
information, such as the progress notes from doctors, medication logs for residents, dialysis
reports, and radiology and lab results, checking and sending out emails, and entering
appointment information into the communications tab in PointClickCare. As the practicum
progressed, I was given more tasks, such as scheduling appointments for residents, discharge
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audits, breaking down closed charts, and auditing current charts. Majority of the tasks given to
me were very relevant to the main project for the practicum. One of the tasks given to me did
involve creating Iron Mountain boxes for resident information that was given to Medical
Records by the MDS Coordinator. This task took about the first week because there were two
boxes full of older resident information which needed to be sorted out and filed into separate
expansion folders until it was ready to be sent out.
The project for the practicum did involve creating boxes of older resident health
information so it can be sent to recordkeepers. The recordkeepers medical records use is Iron
Mountain and they keep the records secure. Several of the daily tasks were involved in the steps
of the project. This project was done several times before I started the practicum, so the process
and steps were easy to follow. The process did need some improvement, so I did improve some
steps. I made it easier to complete chart audits with an Excel spreadsheet and I added folders, so
dialysis and hospice reports have their own folder in a resident’s file. The opportunity to improve
the process of the steps did help with project overall because auditing was easier and done more
effectively.
From doing this practicum in the medical records department, I learned a lot about what
the Medical Records Coordinator has to do on a daily basis for the facility. I learned how to
schedule appointments and transportation for residents, the process of medical records requests,
how to communicate effectively, how to audit charts and do discharge audits, how to organize a
new admission packet, and how to better use the HER, PointClickCare. I realized that her
position is very time consuming as some of her daily tasks takes hours to complete. For example,
scheduling doctors’ appointments can take from three to five hours to complete for one resident
because the doctor’s office may not accept the resident’s insurance, the office will not see the
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resident due to no show appointments, or because of the resident’s behavior the last time they
were seen at the office. This would lead to searching different doctors and calling various doctors
just to get an appointment. I also did realize that due to lack of communication from other
departments, medical records responsibilities and tasks take a lot longer to complete. For
example, new admission packets, AHCA forms, and Bed Hold Notice forms, are not completed
by nurses and these documentations are very crucial when auditing discharges. Without these
filled out forms, it takes more time to complete the audits.
From doing this practicum, I was able to gain experience in medical records that will help
me in the future. I learned how important it is to store medical records and how the request
process for medical records goes. This is important because many individuals in the facility do
not realize how important it is to have some knowledge of medical records or how the medical
records requests go. There have been multiple situations where family members of residents
come in trying to get medical records and the executive director does not understand the process
for the records request. These situations are where the executive director is trying to give the
medical records to the family right there and then without having knowledge of the request
process. I gained more communication skills because some days I would be asked to call certain
doctor’s offices to help with scheduling appointments. It is important to know how to
communicate with others, especially with getting the right information to the medical office so
they have the resident’s insurance information, reason for the appointment, and if authorization
is needed for the appointment, and maintain professional relationships. Other times I would
communicate either electronically or over the phone with the transportation department of
Consulate Healthcare trying to find out where transportation is for the resident. The different
gain experiences will help in the future as I do plan to work in more hospital settings.
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As for Seaview Nursing and Rehabilitation, I was grateful to work with Ms. Young to
complete the practicum. She provided the opportunity to give me more insight about what the
medical records department really is. Before starting the practicum, I did not know much about
the responsibilities of the Medical Record Coordinator. I knew that she was in charge of
scheduling appointments, transportation, and medical record requests. After the practicum, I
realized that her responsibilities are much more and requires a lot of time because she tends to
take her time with her work and make sure it is done currently. It was an amazing experience to
work with Ms. Young and learn more about this position and department of Seaview. I do plan to
take what I learned to my career.
The Academic-Service-Learning with the practicum was very beneficial to me as a
student. I was able to use what I learned in previous classes and put it to use in real-life before
starting my career. I believe that more majors should require a practicum so more students can
use what they learned before they enter into the workforce. My experience in medical records
was very informative and helpful to me so I can have more knowledge about what working in
medical records really is. It was great to work under the supervision of my preceptor because of
all of her knowledge about her position and how great of a person she is. Completing this
practicum was an enjoyable experience for me.