HCR/210
January 15, 2012
There are a few differences and similarities among small, medium, and large facilities concerning the organization of patient records and in how they handle loose reports. I have noticed that most facilities prefer that their loose records are permanently anchored in their charts, which makes sense to me because it prevents the loose reports from being misplaced and lost. However, the different sizes of facilities tend to organize patient files differently according to each particular facility’s policies. The most popular methods of organization that I have seen include chronologically, form numbers, report type, and category. During my review of the interview threads, I noticed a lot of similarities and a lot of differences in how patient files are handled. For example the medium and large facilities are by far more likely to use electronic files than paper ones, thus eliminating the threat of misplaced records. The most common difference that I saw was in whether or not the facilities use paper files. It seems that almost all of the medium and large facilities are using electronic files and everything automatically gets filed with the patient’s main file immediately. However, in small facilities they are much more likely to use paper files in which case everything is filed with the patient’s main record immediately in order to make it easy to locate and to prevent it from getting lost. In conclusion, whether the facility is small, medium, or large they all take special care in the organization of their files whether they are paper or