Case Study Eagletown High School

In this chapter, “Information Management”, the text discusses the documentation of information that athletic trainers must do in order to comply with rules and regulations. The two categories of documentation include medical records and program admission records. The importance of recording information includes: legal protection and requirements, professional standards, communication, insurance requirements, outcomes measures, and for improved delivery of care.
Case 1: Question 1- “What are the advantages of the injury and treatment recording system used at Eagletown High School? What are the disadvantages?” One advantage to the high school’s injury and treatment record keeping system is that Charles meets with his student staff at the beginning
Charles could potentially face these legal issues if the documents he has on file are hard to read and unprofessional. For example, documentation is the only defense that athletic trainers have against patients who take legal action against them. If the records are hard to read, then they may not provide any evidence to protect the athletic trainer. It is usually said that if “it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.” In any case whether the documentation is for legal purposes or insurance purposes if it can’t be read then it will provide little support. This problem could be overcome by recording all documentation on a computer. Doing so will guarantee legibility and the documents will be stored on the computer so patients’ files can be obtained much easier than searching through old boxes. The students could also use the computerized program to record files allowing more time for the athletic trainer to be with injured athletes. The resources needed to implement the computerized software would have to include information about different programs. The information should include: life expectancy of the software, will it require upgrades and how often, and will these upgrades cost money each time? The athletic trainer should also talk to the school’s IT department to get their expertise. The cost of these programs will probably
Having the students document the treatments and file the information is a good way to give Charles more time with injured athletes, but if the students aren’t performing the tasks right then Charles needs to make some changes. He needs to develop a way to revise the documentation before it is filed away. If he doesn’t do so, he could have little evidence to support himself if an athlete takes legal action against him. This goes for any reason to document information. If all his records are hard to read and are filed poorly to the point where he struggles to find what he wants, then when asked for past patient information he may fail to possess adequate information. Charles needs to address legal protection issues and legal requirement issues enforced by OSHA. By changing is system in a way that will allow him to easily and quickly access the needed files, and knowing that they’ll be legible will help him